FAA accuses New York controllers of overtime abuse

Federal Aviation Administration officials claim that air traffic controllers in New York have abused sick leave, workers compensation and overtime.

Union representatives say the allegations are plainly false.

In a press conference Wednesday, FAA officials said controllers at the radar control center, which handles air traffic from all three of New York's major airports, unnecessarily racked up more than $4 million in overtime pay in fiscal 2005.

FAA took control over scheduling at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control from the union this summer. As a result, agency officials said projected overtime costs for fiscal 2006 are less than $1 million.

"The local union was manipulating the work schedule and using sick leave and annual leave to inflate overtime at that facility," deputy FAA administrator Bobby Sturgell said.

One of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association vice presidents, Phil Barbarello, contended that the FAA always had controlled scheduling. Barbarello, who once worked at the New York facility, said the same schedules were in place since the 1980s, before his union existed.

Jeffrey Clarke, the manager of the New York facility, said FAA discovered a significant amount of sick leave abuse at the facility. Clarke said controllers often would call in sick on days adjoining days off, such as the Monday after a weekend.

"We've looked at the patterns of sick leave abuse and those individuals we felt were abusing the sick leave, we spoke to them initially to tell them what we saw," Clarke said. "We told them if they did abuse sick leave, they may receive some sort of disciplinary action."

Clarke said the agency asked some employees to bring in documentation for their sick leave and that the agency brought disciplinary actions on some employees. He did not give specifics on disciplinary action.

Barbarello's story is markedly different.

"I can tell you that not one air traffic controller has ever been counseled, disciplined, spoken to or accused of any of that ever, not one," Barbarello said. The accusations "are simply fabricated."

FAA officials also said the New York facility had many times more hours off for employees due to workers compensation claims than other comparable facilities. Most of the cases, they said, involved alleged psychological trauma.

The FAA and NATCA are in the midst of heated contract negotiations over salaries and hiring rates, among other issues.