Meet the Maine Air Trafficking Controllers Who Keep Our Skies Safe for Travel

PHOTO: Left to right: Steve Brown, Portland (NATC); Henry Schulz, Legislative Assistant for Congressman Golden, Preston Doak, Portland (NATC) & Bryan Loquet (NATC).

Air traffic controllers perform some of the most critical public safety jobs in Maine, ensuring the skies are safe for air travel and protecting the rest of us on the ground. Members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) work at the Portland Air Traffic Control Terminal at the Portland International Jetport and the Bangor Air Traffic Control Terminal at Bangor International Airport covering a vast amount of airspace over Maine. 

"We are all working behind the scenes, many of us working six-day work weeks and ten-hour days. Keeping the traveling public and air cargo safe from the moment the aircraft pushes back from the gate and cleared for take off, to when the aircraft is cleared to land and pulls up to the arrival gate at its destination," said Bryan Loquet,  NATCA's Legislative Representative for Bangor and the union's State Coordinator for Maine.  "We work up in the towers you see when you are at the airport or in a room with no windows with a radar scope sometimes hundreds of miles away."

NATCA also cover multiple smaller airports around each facility like Sanford, Brunswick, Augusta, Belfast, and Bar Harbor to name a few. Their jobs include ensuring aircrafts are landing and departing safely; operating radar and communication equipment; detecting and adjusting malfunctions and inferences in the equipment; issuing speed, altitude, and directional instructions to pilots to keep aircraft properly separated and much more. Air traffic controllers work rotating schedules seven-days a week and, in many facilities, 24-hours a day.

Loquet grew up in San Bernardino County in Southern California, not far from Disney Land, where he once worked at a fine dining restaurant as a young adult. While he worked various jobs he pursued his dream to land a career in air traffic control.

"I have always been fascinated by airports and the nonstop movement of aircraft which seemed to flow seamlessly around the airfield," he said. "Growing up I learned my neighbor was a controller so I had the opportunity to tour the facility he works at multiple times and my uncle was also a controller at Seattle Center."

After graduating from college with a degree in Aviation Science, he completed the Federal Aviation Administration Academy's rigorous training program and was assigned to Bangor International Airport. Prior to joining NATCA, Loquet had been a member of Workers United Local 50 while working for Disney, but wasn't an active member. He first got involved in NATCA as a drug and alcohol representative, which trains employees on alcohol and drug testing procedures the third party must follow to ensure the accuracy of the test. Then he was "kind of thrown" into his position as legislative representative.

"Initially it wasn’t something I sought out but once I got involved, I realized how important the work was," Loquet said. "I started seeing first hand how the decisions being made were directly affecting us, and I wanted to be a voice for my facility and help build relationships with members of Congress. From there I became the state coordinator for Maine. There was a slight learning curve the first year but it’s been a meaningful journey, being able to advocate for real change and help build solidarity with others across the state."

Loquet said that a career in air traffic can be very stressful, so it is important that air traffic controllers have a collective voice in the workplace to provide a support system and allow them to focus on their mission.

"Our union has multiple outlets, whether it's helping fight for better staffing and working conditions, maintaining a relationship with the FAA to collaborate with training and the development and implementation of new technologies, or our Critical Incident Stress Management team (CISM), which provides confidential, non-judgmental peer-to-peer support in the wake of stressful events to promote recovery following a difficult experience at work or personally," he said.

He added that the union ensures that there is a seniority-based bidding process to make shift schedules and vacation leave fair, rather than on the whim of managers. NATCA was certified in 1987 to replace the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), which had been decertified after former President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981. Currently, NATCA members are focused on improving staffing and protecting their retirement and health benefits.

"Unfortunately, [our staffing is] subject to potential reductions through the budget reconciliation process," said Loquet. "NATCA is also working to increase staffing at facilities throughout the country and ensure that our members have the best equipment to help them perform their critical safety functions."