NYC Gazette

WESTBURY, N.Y. – Congressman Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04) claimed victory on Thursday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rescinded transfer orders for 30 air traffic controllers based out of the Westbury, New York TRACON FAA facility as part of a workforce shift from Long Island to an FAA site in Pennsylvania. D’Esposito established himself as an early opponent of the FAA’s Long Island personnel transfer plan and advocated fiercely against the proposed relocation of jobs from New York’s 4th Congressional District.

“I am very pleased that the FAA heeded my calls and reversed course on their earlier decision to ship good paying, union jobs off of Long Island,” said D’Esposito.  “The Federal Aviation Administration employees who were to be impacted by this move were resoundingly opposed to the transfer plan, and I am glad their voices were finally heard by the FAA.”

The FAA’s TRACON facility – located on the northern end of New York’s 4th Congressional District – serves as a base of operations for several hundred FAA employees, including dozens of air traffic controllers tasked with managing large swathes of airspace in the New York Metropolitan Area.  A previous directive by the FAA would have seen 30 of these air traffic controllers “temporarily” transferred from Long Island to a Philadelphia area facility – a move that was seen as unpopular by impacted FAA workers.

As a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Congressman D’Esposito made safeguarding jobs at TRACON a priority, particularly as the committee worked through the 2023 FAA Reauthorization process.  Indeed, D’Esposito leveraged his position on the committee to strongly advocate against the TRACON transfer plan – regularly communicating this position to fellow committee members and House of Representatives leadership.  What’s more, D’Esposito joined his Long Island colleague, Congressman Nick LaLota, last month on a site visit to the NY-04 based TRACON facility, where the representatives heard directly from workers about their opposition to the transfer.

“While I am glad the FAA has made the correct choice in this instance, I will remain vigilant and continue to protect jobs here in New York’s 4th Congressional District,” said D’Esposito.  “I will never allow the federal government to ship jobs out of this district without a fight.” 

Original source can be found here.