by Jason Gallagher

 It has been a difficult year so far for air traffic controllers. The profession has recently received a fair amount of public scrutiny due to a variety of problems. A few controllers were fired for an incident involving a flight with First Lady Michelle Obama aboard, according to PTI, and a few more were fired for sleeping on the job, as reported by Reuters. The profession may be invisible to the majority of travelers, but it provides crucial communication for pilots and the airline industry in general. 

Now air traffic controllers are tasked with rebuilding an image that has been slightly tarnished due to a few lapses in judgment. The main point the professionals and the union representing them can make is fairly common sense, in that a few bad apples do not spoil the bunch. The group is faced with winning back the trust of the public and travelers, thanks to the news surrounding the activities of a few.

While a sleeping air traffic controller makes national headlines, many positive stories on jobs well done get little national attention. The story by ABC World News of air traffic control specialist Richard Harrison helping to guide several planes to safety despite tornadoes and other bad weather in the area, some in close proximity to the tower in which he was working, received some attention, but not necessarily the positive attention it deserved.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association and its membership has taken the negative publicity the profession has received and attempted to turn it around. CNN reports the group has produced a video featuring several active controllers talking about the need for a job well done and the utmost professionalism the job requires. While the video was initially produced for internal use, it has been released on popular video streaming site YouTube.

While certainly not an overnight cure, the video will certainly go a long way in reminding travelers they are in good hands when they take to the skies. Plus, reports of activities of controllers like Harrison will go a long way toward erasing images of sleepy or groggy controllers. They may have a long way to go, but the reputation was not tarnished, nor will it be rebuilt, overnight.

Jason Gallagher is a former travel professional and long-time Pennsylvania resident. These experiences give him a first-hand look at developing situations in the state and everything included in the travel industry from technology to trends.