Aviation Daily: Blakey Rejects NATCA's Request To Resume Contract Talks
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey yesterday told the controllers' union that the agency will not return to the bargaining table but will let the contract impasse process run its course in Congress.
"At this late date, resuming collective bargaining makes little sense," Blakey said in a letter to National Air Traffic Controllers Association head John Carr. Congress "is the appropriate forum" for the contract debate since that is the process outlined by statute in the event of an impasse, Blakey said.
The letter was sent in an official response to a request by NATCA to return to negotiations (DAILY, April 24).
Blakey described the two sides' positions as "two ships that pass in the night," stressing that they "never came close to agreement" on the main issues during negotiations. "Absent an about-face by NATCA on these core issues," further negotiations would only delay the process, Blakey said. -AS