As an air traffic controller based in Bangor, I was disappointed to read the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration rewriting history in her op-ed piece (BDN, May 1).

Contrary to Marion Blakey’s statement, John Carr was not yet the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in 1998. That year, the former FAA leadership negotiated a fair, amicable agreement with the nation’s air traffic controllers, and the aviation system benefited as a result – productivity increased and modernization was fast-tracked with more new equipment deployed in a few short years than the FAA had ever been able to achieve.

This is in stark contrast to the attitude of the agency under Blakey. Today, nearly all collaboration with employees has been terminated, modernization programs have been slashed and staffing numbers have been reduced to critical levels. And as if this weren’t enough, the administrator believes it appropriate to publicly attack her own employees through the press.

This is not just disappointing; it should be cause for concern by anyone who flies.

Steve Lindsay

NATCA facility

representative

Bangor tower