The 1981 Air Controllers’ strike revisited
Dear Editor,
August 3 marked the 35-year anniversary of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization’s strike that hoped to cripple U.S. aviation activities during the busy summer vacation season.
At 7 a.m. EDT, the 13,000 controller union went out on strike seeking better working conditions, increased pay, and a 32-hour work week.
Within hours President Reagan called their bluff.
Reagan characterized the illegal action as “a peril to national safety” and gave controllers 48 hours to return to work or face termination.
On Aug. 5, Reagan fired the 11,345 controllers that failed to heed his order. He also banned them for life from further federal service.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) quickly activated their contingency plan.
Overhead staff and supervisors joined the remaining 2,000 controllers to continue reduced operations.
FAA-certified military controllers from the Air Force, Army, and Navy also responded to augment the FAA’s force.
Within short order almost 700 military controllers arrived at various FAA facilities. Long-time O’Fallon resident, Colonel Derrel Dempsey, was then the deputy chief of staff for air traffic services at Air Force Communications Command headquartered at Scott. He was tasked to organize the AF response. He and his staff activated a 24-7 crisis management center to orchestrate actions.
All transportation, housing, pay, and personnel issues were staffed.
An initial cadre of 100 AFCC controllers was dispatched on 10-day orders. They traveled by car, government vehicle, or military airlift. Dressed in their uniforms, they crossed picket lines every day.
Many strikers were AF veterans and respected their former peers at least in the early going. As the strike dragged on, and reality began to set in, feelings soured dramatically. Military deployments continued for the next 23 months with the bulk handled by the Air Force. A total of 612 AFCC controllers were deployed to 65 FAA facilities.
O’Fallon resident, Tim Gravelle, was a deployed AFCC controller during the strike. He was dispatched on just hours notice from Griffiss AFB in upstate New York to FAA’s control tower at Newark Airport in New Jersey.
After a couple of weeks Gravelle was transferred to busy Teterboro Tower where he stayed for 6-months, living in a nearby hotel. Local FAA officials’ tried to entice Gravelle to stay on but he was eager to return to the Air Force for his pending assignment to Germany.
PATCO spread the disparaging word that military controllers were dangerous and not properly trained to work in FAA facilities. With Gravelle’s help, one of the great thrills of Dempsey’s career was resoundingly proving them wrong!! Military controllers were later awarded Humanitarian Service Medals by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger for their exemplary performance to the nation.
Bill Malec
O’Fallon
This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 1:48 PM with the headline "The 1981 Air Controllers’ strike revisited."