June 30, 1998
'SCOPE DOPES' DESERVE RAISEBUT SKIP THE COFFEE
But hold that cup if you happen to be an air-traffic controller. We've just learned that spilled coffee was the culprit in a near-collision between two airliners over New York. One fine April morning, an Air Canada Airbus takes off, just as a U.S. Airways DC-9 is landing. Suddenly, a supervisor in the control tower spills his coffee and a controller glances away to clean it up. That's all it takes for the airliners to pass within six metres of each other. Somehow, the fates are with the passengers that day and coffee is all that anybody has to clean up. Hmmm. This makes me wonder about the caffeine quotient in Calgary. Julien de Schutter assures me that our airport is one of the safest in the world. "In fact, there aren't any unsafe airports in Canada," says the vice-president of the Calgary Airport Authority. Last year, there were 225,000 takeoffs and landings at the Calgary International and that number will jump by at least 10%. We are well on our way this year, with 99,000 by the end of May. And this with no major incidents. Of course, those near misses are are never called what they really are -- near hits. I remember flying once between some small Caribbean islands in a six-seater held together with crazy glue and duct tape. I sat in the back beside a magnificently immense woman weighing at least 350 lbs. And I had to hold her chickens. Two cages jumped on my lap and two others jutted behind me in the pea-size open cargo hold. At least the squawks of the chickens dimmed most of the cute young pilot's questions such as: Anybody here remember this airport? Today, I no longer fly with chickens -- the feathered kind, that is. Instead, I have become one. I could be Calgary's most cowardly flier. That is why I rely completely on the plane, the pilots and the controllers. And those controllers, who I presume still drink coffee, are negotiating for a better contract. They've already voted to strike if they don't get satisfaction from Nav Canada, the not-for-profit company in charge. The controllers want more money and fewer hours, while Nav Canada wants to increase their work week from 34 to 36.5 hours. Is Nav Canada crazy? Add more time to an already stressed-out day, where one more coffee is all that sits between me and eternity? Calgary has 30 air-traffic controllers and they're all visual, meaning they use their eyes to scan the skies. The big fancy instruments are at the international airport in Edmonton, that Liberal hub of flying activity. At the air-control centre there, I'm told these "scope dopes" -- radar controllers -- could do their jobs anywhere. "Those services could be provided in Montreal or anywhere," says the aptly named Nav Canada spokesman, Conrad Bellehumeur. And indeed, they are -- in Montreal, Edmonton and five other locations where there are lots of Liberals. Not Calgary. But I do hope they cut the controllers a little more slack, and money. I want happy scope dopes. Give them what they want, but skip the coffee. Next Story: LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
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