Aviation in this economy is generally associated with layoffs and pay cuts. Things are a bit different for U.S. government workers. The FAA just signed a new contract with its air traffic controllers providing for $670 million in increased pay over the next three years (source). The ATC union has 14,000 members so that’s about $43,000 per controller (whose current annual median earnings are $117,240 (plus benefits) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
[For reference, regional airlines are able to attract highly qualified pilots to start at $19,000 per year, with a top annual salary for the most senior captains of $60-80,000 per year. This is to fly jets with up to 130 seats (the best ones being made in Brazil by workers who earn a lot less than a U.S. government worker!).]
Seems pretty reasonable to me. Controllers’ jobs are so stressful it ruins their health, and they were shat upon all 8 years of the Bush administration. (Did you know they’re not even allowed to leave their buildings for lunch? Due to ‘security’ concerns; that’s the kind of asshole management controllers have.)
Gwern: Private employers don’t pay employees more because a job is stressful. They pay more if it is required in order to retain employees. None of the press coverage of this pay raise mentioned any possibility that a controller being paid $117,240 plus benefits (the old salary) was intending to quit and take another job with a different employer. If the government should pay employees according to “stress” rather than something related to a market salary, soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan should earn $100 million each (referencing their level of stress to that of a clerk at the Department of Motor Vehicles).
I have to wander, why isn’t there a revolution against government spending? Is it because the % of population employed by the government + % of population who get “free” government services, is now the majority such that status quo works in their favor?
Phil,
Have to disagree with you that the old pay rates were properly market-clearing. Congress mandated pay cuts in the mid 1990’s, and since then, we’ve seen a steady attrition of controllers without the influx of new trainees.
The net effect has been absurdly understaffed TRACONs and ARTCCs. Almost none of the center controllers get D-sides anymore, controllers are having to violate their own rest rules in order to keep their facilities staffed, and, in general, that is getting worse, not better. In addition, ridiculous FAA policies (such as requiring controllers to bust pilots for any deviation, regardless of whether a loss of separation occurred) continue to INCREASE controller workload.
I’m not going to argue against the idea that controllers were overpaid in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but the pay rates before this agreement could not be considered market-clearing, since the FAA was not getting enough controllers to meet their own staffing targets.
Joshua: You believe that TRACONs are understaffed because there are not enough Americans willing to work an air-conditioned desk job for $117,000 per year? The Bureau of Labor Statistics says “Despite the increasing number of jobs coming open, competition to get into the FAA training programs is expected to remain keen, as there generally are many more applicants to get into the schools than there are openings” (source: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos108.htm).
[I think it would also be safe to bet that any business required by union contract to pay its workers an average of $117,000 per year plus $50,000 in benefits and pension obligations would be understaffed. Doctors are expensive in the U.S., for example, and HMOs try to hire as few as possible (and sometimes fewer!).]
folks, i think we’re overcomplicating things when we talk about stress levels and whatnot. the fact is, this is an average of $117k plus considerable bennies for a job that the average person can do. a pay raise for this position, in this economic climate, is ridiculous.
Dave: The real question is not whether or not the average person can do it (probably the average person could not work New York Approach but could handle Kona, Hawaii tower (light traffic; sunny weather; open 6am to 10pm, so no night shifts), but whether or not the FAA can get adequate staff at current salaries. For most of the past decade it has not even been possible to apply for an ATC job unless you had previous experience as a military controller or special training at a school affiliated with the FAA.
Note: I deleted a comment or two about how tough it is to be an air traffic controller and how big a responsibility it is. No evidence was presented that being a controller is tougher than flying a turbojet airliner with an approach speed of 145 knots. No evidence was presented that the job carries more responsibility than being the captain of an airliner (who actually is the one who has ultimate responsibility for not hitting another aircraft, with the assistance of TCAS). The fact that a regional airline can assemble a crew of TWO pilots and one flight attendant (a very tough job) for about $100,000 per year total must be considered when asking why one would need to pay a controller more than $117,000 per year. Let’s also remember that the controller goes home every night to see his or her kids and sleep in his or her own bed. The airline crew may spend 20 nights per month sleeping in budget hotels.
I deleted a few comments of the form “Any time a union gets a pay raise for its members it is a great thing” because they didn’t address the difference between a public employee union and a private company union. With a private employer you could argue that the union is taking money from the plutocratic management and shareholders (and then ultimately from the taxpayers, I guess, in the case of GM and Chrysler). A public employee union that is able to secure above-market wages, however, is taking money from a taxpayer working double shifts at Walmart in order to feed her family.
The original point of the posting was to raise the question of whether it is an abuse of government power for the government to pay its employees more than a market wage, given that all of the extra money must be confiscated from citizens via higher taxes or borrowed on behalf of today’s children.
If it isn’t an abuse of government power and the goal is simply to make more workers happy, why not pay all government employees $1 million per year? Surely that is a small price to pay for happy schoolteachers, firemen, and police, all of whom perform vital jobs for their fellow Americans.
I would, for 3/4ths the average salary, go to work as an ATC. I even thought about it when I was having a career identity crisis last year. But, I turned 35 this year.
I got into the agency when the pay had been cut by 30%. I was looking at only making $53,000 a year. I thought that would be enough to keep me around, but once I started training at my facility I quickly realized that pay would not be enough to keep me around very long. If it had not been for these contract negotiations the faa would have an even bigger problem han they do now. Many controllers have already retired early beacuse of imposed work rules, and many of the new guys would have quite within 5 years if not for the adequate pay raise.