Nearly 800 flight service specialists filed a lawsuit March 31 to stop the FAA from contracting out their jobs.
In February, the FAA awarded a $1.9 billion contract to Lockheed Martin to take over operations at the agency’s Automated Flight Service Stations. At that time, Lockheed officials said they planned to close 38 of the nation’s 58 flight service stations by March 2007.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues the FAA is discriminating against the 796 employees because of their age. Nearly 1,800 of the 2,500 employees whose jobs are affected are more than 40 years old.
The lawsuit contends FAA outsourced its flight service operations to avoid having to pay retirement benefits to employees. It seeks an immediate injunction to stop the work from being transferred to Lockheed, which was to occur in October.