BANGOR – One of Maine’s senators scolded the Federal Aviation Administration for issuing pink slips to 30 federal employees at Bangor International Airport before litigation that could save their jobs is resolved.

Employees at Bangor’s flight service station were notified last month that they will be laid off Oct. 4 as part of the FAA’s decision to privatize operation of the stations, which provide support services such as weather updates, route planning and air space information.

More than 800 of the approximately 2,000 service station employees nationwide, however, are seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the contract process as part of their age discrimination lawsuit against the FAA, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe pointed out in a letter this week to the FAA.

“In its rush to implement its plan for Flight Service Stations, the FAA is overlooking its obligation to its loyal employees – these termination notices should not have been issued,” Snowe said in a news release about the letter.

Snowe, R-Maine, sits on the Senate Commerce Committee and its aviation subcommittee.

She and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in June co-sponsored the Federal Aviation Security Act, legislation that would void the privatization and consolidation process by restoring the stations’ “inherently governmental” designation.

“Flight service stations provide essential safety and information services to general aviation pilots throughout the nation,” Collins said in a prepared statement. “I believe the workers at the Bangor flight service station should be government employees.”

The FAA in February announced its five-year $1.9 billion contract with aerospace industry giant Lockheed Martin Corp., under which the existing 58 flight service stations nationwide will be consolidated to 20. The move is expected to save $2.2 billion over the next 10 years.

Lockheed plans to install new technology and upgrade facilities in an effort to improve the efficiency of the flight service station network.

The lawsuit, which lists 15 of Bangor’s flight service station employees as plaintiffs, alleges that the network was singled out for privatization because 92 percent of its work force is over 40 and nearing retirement eligibility.

“We think that it is glaringly obvious that the FAA has targeted its oldest work force,” said Charles Day Jr., a Washington attorney representing the workers, on Tuesday.

FAA officials did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the workers as individuals rather than as members of the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists union.

A hearing on the preliminary injunction is scheduled for Sept. 1 in U.S. District Court in Washington.

Many employees who have paid extra money into early retirement accounts will see greatly reduced benefits as a result of the privatization, Day said.

Workers also are stymied in finding similar work because the FAA requires that new employees in other air traffic control areas be under the age of 31, he said.

“This is widely seen as a way to bust the union,” he said.

In Bangor, some flight service station workers who have lined up jobs with Lockheed are ready to move on with their lives, while others worry about what the future holds, said Dan Holodick, a local facility representative for the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists union.

Come the October deadline, employee Russ Eastman will be 20 days short of reaping his full retirement benefits as a 20-year federal employee, Holodick noted.

“It just seems like it’s being rushed through,” he said of the privatization process.

The Bangor station, scheduled to close next spring, serves primarily general aviation, military and corporate pilots, though it also provides backup to the major airlines when their in-house systems are down.

Employees in Bangor and nationwide have argued that their personal knowledge of regional weather patterns and topography is crucial to safe air travel, and that relying only on automated information will put pilots at risk.

“We’re a small union, but we’re just going to keep fighting, because it’s not right,” Kate Breen, president of the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists, said Tuesday.