Commercial Aviation Near Standstill
Brazilian
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva originally gained political
fame as a union leader. He is now playing hardball with air traffic
controllers due to their slowdowns and strikes.
President da Silva said it was unacceptable for the controllers
to cause chaos that left thousands of travelers stranded. The
situation became so intense, military troops were brought in to
control angry passengers in the airport at the Capital City of
Brasilia.
"People that perform a service considered essential must have
more responsibility than others," Silva told reporters in
Washington before meeting with President Bush. "When I was a union
leader and wanted to order a strike in companies, there were
certain sectors that we decided wouldn't stop work, because it was
important for the production of the service that was
essential."
The air force runs Brazil's air traffic control system, which
has been thrown into chaos, again last month by controllers staging
work slowdowns over pay and staffing levels.
On Friday, all 67 commercial airports in Brazil were closed for
takeoffs, in another wave of air travel chaos that has plagued
Latin America's largest nation for months.
By Saturday, flights were taking off again, but confusion
remained. Stranded passengers who spent all night in airports tried
to reach their destinations and competed for seats with passengers
embarking Saturday.
Controllers were protesting a decision by the Air Force command,
which oversees Brazil's air traffic controllers, to transfer top
workers to other cities. They saw the transfers as retaliation
against strikers for slowdowns that they staged periodically during
the past six months.
Cabinet ministers met overnight and agreed to many concessions.
The will give controllers a bonus, review the current promotions
system, change the military status of at least some to civilian and
cancel all transfers made over the past six months, the government
news service Agencia Brasil said.
As ANN reported controller
problems came to light in the days following a midair collision
between a Legacy 600 and a Gol Airlines 737 last September.
After the collision -- which damaged the left wing, left
stabilizer, and left elevator of the bizjet -- the crew of the
damaged ExcelAire aircraft was able to land at a nearby military
airfield at Cachimbo, Brazil. The 737 subsequently crashed
approximately 20 miles north of the Peixoto de Azevedo
municipality. All six crew members and 148 passengers on the 737
were killed.
According to several reports, starting in late October 2006 air
traffic controllers launched a work-to-rule campaign, deliberately
slowing operations, due to concerns about working conditions and
new safety procedures implemented as a result of the mid-air
collision. In addition, 10 traffic controllers who were on duty
during a fatal air crash in September have been suspended, making
the workloads even heavier for remaining controllers.
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