10/22/1981: FLRA Decertifies Air Traffic Controllers Union PATCO

Today in 1981, the U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) ordered the decertification of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), revoking its status as the exclusive bargaining representative of federal air traffic controllers after the union's strike against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The order was issued on October 22. After a temporary court stay, the decertification took effect on October 27, according to the FAA's historical chronology.

PATCO had formed in January 1968. That July, it announced “Operation Air Safety,” a campaign to maintain the FAA's prescribed aircraft separation standards and draw attention to working conditions and congestion.

Negotiations and the Strike

Contract talks began in February 1981. The union sought better pay and working conditions, including a 32-hour workweek, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association's (NATCA) account of the dispute.

A tentative agreement was reached on June 22, but PATCO's membership rejected it. Renewed negotiations failed to produce a settlement before the August 3 strike.

At his August 3 Rose Garden news conference, President Ronald Reagan gave the strikers 48 hours to return to work or lose their jobs. He distinguished private-sector workers' right to strike from federal employees' obligation to keep government services operating.

The FAA's history records approximately 11,400 dismissals after the deadline expired. It says 440 controllers were eventually reinstated through appeals.

Keeping Flights Moving

The FAA estimates that approximately 12,300 of PATCO's 15,000 members joined the walkout, grounding about 35% of the country's 14,200 daily commercial flights at the outset.

Supervisors and controllers who remained at work kept the system operating. The FAA accelerated recruitment and training, assigned support staff to help controllers, and received military assistance. About 800 military controllers were ultimately assigned to the agency.

The restrictions changed as the dispute continued. On August 5, the FAA introduced “Flow Control 50,” requiring airlines to cancel approximately half their scheduled peak-hour flights at 22 major airports. That was a specific traffic-control measure, rather than a uniform cancellation rate across all U.S. flights.

The Washington Post described stranded passengers turning to trains and buses, with long queues at Washington's Union Station.

Why PATCO Lost Its Bargaining Status

The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, enacted as Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, protected collective bargaining but permitted sanctions against federal unions that called or supported strikes.

The FLRA found that PATCO had committed unfair labor practices by striking against the FAA. Its October decision revoked the union's exclusive recognition status. PATCO challenged the order, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld it on June 11, 1982.

Representation and Reemployment

The dispute took place within a federal labor system shaped by President John F. Kennedy's 1962 executive order and President Richard Nixon's 1969 successor. Those measures had established and developed federal employees' rights to organize before Congress put collective bargaining on a statutory footing in 1978.

On June 19, 1987, NATCA became the exclusive representative of the FAA's terminal and center controllers. It was a new union, rather than a restoration of PATCO's certification.

The employment restrictions on the dismissed controllers also changed. On December 9, 1981, Reagan lifted the three-year prohibition on other federal employment, while the FAA restriction remained. On August 12, 1993, the Clinton administration announced that former strikers could apply for FAA reemployment. Eligibility to apply did not guarantee a job: the agency was then under a budget-related hiring freeze.