More From Quiet Rockland

“There is a clear connection between FAA Reauthorization and ejection of ‘Bobby’ Sturgell as Acting Administrator. As long as Sturgell is at the FAA helm, infusing FAA with millions more dollars would be the equivalent of handing Kenneth Lay and Enron a suitcase full of cash”.

QUIET ROCKLAND URGES SENATE TO CONDITION FAA REAUTHORIZATION ON REMOVAL OF BOBBY STURGELL AND AIRSPACE REDESIGN; ASKS ATC FAIR TREATMENT

Rockland County, NY – April 30, 2008: 

Observing “The time is now to sweep up the failed wreck that was the Marion Blakey/Bobby Sturgell FAA”, suburban New York citizen group Quiet Rockland is urging Congress to approve the FAA Reauthorization bill now pending before the United States Senate but only upon three amended pre-conditions pursuant to Executive, Legislative and Agency sign-off:

1. That the FAA’s “NY/NJ/PHL Airspace Redesign” be scrapped permanently. 

2. That Redesign-tout and embattled pro tempore Administrator "Bobby" Sturgell be stricken from consideration as nominee for FAA Administrator – and that Mr. Sturgell then be fired from the failed agency along with Airspace Redesign Project Manager Steve Kelley.  

3. That every U.S. air traffic controller receives written confirmation according them fair compensation and treatment in the workplace, with accompanying apology for their past mistreatment at the hand of the FAA, each writing in a form approved by the majority of the ATC workforce.

Said Attorney John J. Tormey III with Quiet Rockland: “This is about the safety of our skies. Could the Administration be serious, when yesterday threatening to veto FAA Reauthorization while bemoaning the bill’s ‘unnecessarily burdensome safety mandates’? The country does not want more cracked airplanes, low-fuel landings, falling aircraft parts, runway incursions, demoralized ATCs, and airplane groundings. The Sturgell FAA is an embarrassment to this country. The American people want and demand safe air travel managed by a competent FAA that puts people over profits. Bobby Sturgell, Steve Kelley, and the NY/NJ/PHL Airspace Redesign must be jettisoned from FAA to achieve that worthy objective. For safety’s sake, and because it is the right thing to do, the ATCs should be treated with professional respect, and only upon these conditions should the FAA be again cash-flowed by Reauthorization. The Administration should be reminded that U.S. travelers expect strict liability on the part of air carriers when it comes to ‘safety mandates’, we expect those ‘safety mandates’ to be honored and enforced, and we expect an FAA that actually does its job.

“There is a clear connection between FAA Reauthorization and ejection of ‘Bobby’ Sturgell as Acting Administrator. As long as Sturgell is at the FAA helm, infusing FAA with millions more dollars would be the equivalent of handing Kenneth Lay and Enron a suitcase full of cash”.