Published: June 05, 2006 12:31 am            

Blakey believes Meridian’s airport an asset in many ways

MERIDIAN — Marion Blakey, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, was in Meridian last week to announce that Meridian’s Key Field Airport received a $1.6 million grant.

She also sat down with The Meridian Star’s editorial board to talk about airport safety and negotiations with air traffic controllers. Here are excerpts from that interview.



The Star: Characterize aviation safety now with pre-9/11.



Blakey: Unfortunately, it looks quite different. And while we all understand that it has vastly improved from the standpoint of criminal activity of all stripes and certainly from the standpoint of protecting us from terrorists, it has put on another layer of requirements, responsibilities and sometimes the inconvenience that comes with it.

So yes, that has changed the nature of the passenger experience at airports, particularly at large airports.

I was struck by one thing. I was with the aviation community (on Thursday) at the Key hangar and a number of people had very good things to say about the Transportation Security Administration, the TSA, and the people here who are responsible for it. Don’t take that for granted, that does not happen all around the country, and the fact that you all have a smooth, well-developed collaborative effort here where you do not really have delays, you do not have inconvenience like you see in some airports.



The Star: Do you feel Meridian’s airport could be a real cargo hub?



Blakey: There’s a lot of different types of cargo, and of course you have a few airports in the country that are almost entirely dedicated cargo airports and several that are being developed for that out in the Mohave desert.

I think in terms of development here in Meridian, you want to think about the question of what kind of cargo because a lot of what is taken by truck is not particularly suitable for air freight. Air freight in the current terms is usually high value.

You’re not going to ... anytime in the near future be hauling grain or coal by aircraft, so there’s a big set of questions that go with what kind of industries you have and you are trying to attract. What kind of service industries do you have?

Are you trying to develop particularly the kind of economic activity that does rely a lot on being able to get something overnight to make it viable. The medical industry is a great example of that and you have a lot of that in North Mississippi.

Cargo service is an exciting area of real growth in aviation and the fact that you already have the natural asset of the runway, you have got two major intermodal assets, of course the highway but you’ve also got good Class 1 rail service — two different lines. You certainly could have attraction to the kind of industry that may need a certain amount of heavy haul freight and maybe a certain amount that is only served by good, strong air cargo.



The Star: How unusual is the 10,000-foot runway like the one at Meridian Regional Airport?



Blakey: It’s the longest civil runway in Mississippi and Alabama, with the exception of Huntsville. When you look around the country, runways are anything from 7,000 to 8,000 to 9,000 feet, depending on where it is and when you get into the 10,000 foot (range), you’ve really got something.



The Star: Update us on the status of the new labor agreement with the air traffic controllers.



Blakey: Because Congress is actually in recess right now, I’m sure there won’t be any actual votes by the deadline (today), so we do intend to put in place the terms and conditions of the contract that we proposed.

Congress had 60 days in which to review it and before that we negotiated for nine months and we had four weeks of federal mediation, so if there was any way up until this point to have gotten a voluntary agreement, we would have done it. The proposal we put forward we think is extremely fair.

The issues are that our operating costs at the FAA have been (going up). We have been criticized by Congress, we have been criticized by the inspector general, and everyone says you have got to bring those operating costs under control.

The costs are driven by personnel. Eighty percent of our operating budget and 16 percent of the FAA’s overall $14 billion budget is all in personnel. Not only do we need to operate more efficiently and smartly as a business, it’s just better use of tax payers’ money.

But the second thing is we have to be able to modernize the aviation system. Right now, we are operating a system that is largely 1960’s and 1970’s in terms of its conception and configuration. One controller talking by radio to one aircraft.

As more and more traffic comes in to the United States, we cannot scale that system up, we can’t just do more of it, it won’t work. We have hugely congested corridors right now. So you have to move to a more automated, more satellite-based or space-based system where you are separating aircraft.

You are letting them fly closer together because you are separating them with highly precise automated systems. And you’re also using enhanced capabilities that will dramatically improve safety, navigation and frankly security. But you have to be able to pay for it.

That means we are going to have to use the resources we are given much more smartly. Our biggest single cost driver, in terms of personnel, is our air traffic controllers’ contract.



The Star: What are the basics of the FAA’s proposal?



There’s now a 42 percent wage gap between controllers and other professional staff of the FAA, and I’m talking pilots, engineers and technical support. They are different professions, but you would not in any way suggest that they are lesser-valued professions. There are 14,500 or 14,600 controllers and the current average salary, fully loaded, salary and benefits, is $166,000 a year.

An entry level air traffic controller, depending on where you come in as entry, is somewhere in the $50,000 range and then they quickly move up to $70,000 to $80,000.

The proposal that we have on the table, keeps the existing workforce financially whole. We’re not cutting salaries, we’re not cutting benefits. Eighty-two percent of premium pay is still exactly as it was.

What we have said is we want to lower the wage scale for the new incoming controllers because we have a large number of new hires coming. We have an age 56 mandatory retirement age. We want to bring on board the new controllers and set up a new wage scale for the controllers at the FAA. It’s essentially 30 percent lower. That is not a pay cut for the existing controllers.

What we are saying is we will bring in new controllers at a wage scale that when you are just out of our academy, not certified yet, but being trained, you start at $31,700. You quickly move up into the $40,000 range, and by the time you are the five year mark, you’re making $84,000, just salary, with premium pay on top of that you are in the mid-$90,000’s.

And with benefits, because they have an enhanced retirement package that’s better than the civil service, they are at $127,000 on average. The current controllers that I said are at $166,000 will be at $187,000 in five years.

I haven’t had anybody suggest to me that that’s not a very generous pay package. Our controllers are making more than Delta pilots. Thirteen hundred of our controllers are making more than $200,000 a year.

        

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