Dozens of Queens-based federal aviation engineers – who oversee maintenance and safety upgrades at the New York metropolitan area’s airports – are being issued one-way tickets to Atlanta as part of an “absurd” cost-cutting measure, Sen. Charles Schumer charged yesterday.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s move finds the region’s three major airports grappling with congestion and breakdowns in safety and air-traffic management, Schumer said, citing 13 recorded runway mishaps since 2006.
“These are the guys who when there’s a problem they know how to fix it,” said Schumer (D-NY). “In Atlanta, they can’t come rushing to help [here]. It’s absolutely absurd.”
The shift, which would effectively shutter the FAA office in Jamaica, Queens, is to be made over the next few months “to consolidate staff,” said Schumer – insisting that plans were under way despite FAA spokesman Jim Peters’ assertion that “no decision has been made by FAA headquarters about any move.”
Schumer is also demanding that the FAA speed up its installation of advanced radar-surveillance systems capable of alerting air-traffic controllers to imminent collisions in the air and on the ground.
“One of my suggestions was an air czar,” Schumer said. “The minute there is a problem, they can unravel the red tape and solve it to avoid hours and hours of delays.”