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Life & Times Transcript
08/31/05 Toni Guinyard>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Is short-staffing of air traffic controllers putting airline passengers at risk? Hamid Ghaffari>> For the past several years, we've been advising the FAA that you're going to have a crisis on your hands of absolute proportions unimaginable. Donn Walker>> The union makes a lot of claims that are frankly not grounded in fact. Toni Guinyard>> And then, they sing, they dance, they do magic. We're on hand as some of Los Angeles County's talented seniors take the stage. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> You're on a plane coming in for a landing. You've put your life in the hands of air traffic controllers who are miles away in a tower and your plane just a blip on their radar screen. So when they say they are under-staffed and over-worked, should you be concerned? Sam Louie takes a look at the conditions that could be putting some air passengers at risk. Sam Louie>> Each day, millions of passengers fly smoothly in and out of LAX and hundreds of other airports around the country. [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> Much of the credit for keeping the system moving goes to the work of air traffic controllers. [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> The controllers coordinate the flight plans, monitor the arrivals and departures and give vital flight information to the pilots like runway clearances and updates on weather systems. Bruce Bates has been a full-time air traffic controller for the past seventeen years. Bruce Bates>> To me, the most exciting part is just to be a controller at a sector and to be able to move aircraft where they want to go and to move them there as efficiently and quickly as possible while also keeping them safe. Sam Louie>> But Bates and other air traffic controllers feel safety is now being compromised. Bruce Bates>> The air traffic controllers in there are doing as safe a job as possible. However, is the level of safety what it should be? No. It would be better if we had more people. Sam Louie>> In the past several years, air traffic controllers have been retiring at a faster clip than those hired. As a result, some controllers feel an extra burden to make up for the difference. Bruce Bates>> Certainly the stress has gone up. It is more of a pressure cooker atmosphere in the building when you're working the sectors because you're just working harder. There is more and more to do and that feeling always nagging at you that there's something you're missing or there's something that you're not watching that you should be and that adds a tremendous level of stress to the job. Sam Louie>> Some controllers feel that stress contributed to situations where planes were allowed to come too close to each other. Hamid Ghaffari>> When you're talking about airplanes that travel about four hundred fifty miles an hour or close to eight miles a minute, a mile is not acceptable. It's just not acceptable. In one incident, had the controller not intervened when he discovered he had committed an error, there could have been tragic consequences. Sam Louie>> In the air. Hamid Ghaffari>> In the air. Sam Louie>> Hamid Ghaffari is with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Hamid Ghaffari>> Across the country, you have this baton race that goes between each en route air traffic facility until you get to your destination airport, so we have to put either everyone in line or two separate lines, depending on the number of runways there are, sequencing you, giving you the approach control. The approach control does some fine-tuning. They give it to the tower, the tower gets you on the ground, taxis you to the gate and we've basically guided you home safely. Sam Louie>> The job is demanding. It requires three to five years to pass the academy and become fully certified. The Federal Aviation Administration trains and hires the controllers. FAA spokesman, Donn Walker, sites the nation's safety record as proof that the system works. Donn Walker>> We have gone in this country almost four years since we've had a major commercial airline accident and that tells you that we've got the safest system in the world. This is the safest period in aviation history. Sam Louie>> Although technically true, the controllers say that there have been several close calls since. Still, Walker explained that the industry factors in staffing levels and human error when calculating risks. Donn Walker>> We like to keep planes five miles apart. That's more than enough. That is ample safety. We built a buffer zone in so, in some cases, an operational error may occur and the planes are four and a half miles apart or four or three and a half. That still is plenty of room to be safe because we've set the bar so high at five miles. So we've built buffer zones in there so that, when operational errors occur, the system can absorb it and still be safe and there's no chance of a collision. Sam Louie>> Currently, the Los Angeles Air Traffic Center in Palmdale is authorized for more than three hundred air traffic controllers. The facility is still about ninety short of that goal, but Walker emphasizes that the FAA has found other ways to work through the shortage without compromising safety. Donn Walker>> We have a lot of tools at our disposal that allow us to manage that facility and move air traffic safely. We use overtime. We have managers and supervisors when needed to come on and work shifts because they're certified air traffic controllers. We have positions in the facility called staff assistant which are certified controllers that are doing desk jobs. They can come on and work when we need them to. Sam Louie>> Walker also questions the timing of the controllers' complaints. Donn Walker>> We think that it's not a coincidence that right now we're in contract talk with the Air Traffic Controllers Union and some people have theorized that they're making all of this noise right now to get management's attention and the public's attention while we're negotiating our contract. Sam Louie>> But the Air Traffic Controllers Union showed us paperwork urging the FAA to hire more workers. Hamid Ghaffari>> For the past several years, we've been advising the FAA that you're going to have a crisis on your hands of absolute proportions unimaginable. Sam Louie>> In February of 1991, thirty-three people were killed here at LAX when a commercial jet landed and hit another plane preparing for takeoff. The investigation concluded that the crash occurred when an air traffic controller was distracted and gave both planes full use of the runway. Hamid Ghaffari>> It's an absolute nightmare for air traffic controllers to even begin to think about a crash like that and that's why we keep saying that not one incident is acceptable to us. Obviously, something has to happen quickly before we have a tragic incident. Sam Louie>> The FAA has now started hiring more air traffic controllers, planning to add one hundred at the Los Angeles center in a year. But in the meantime, Walker wants to reassure the public. Donn Walker>> The union makes a lot of claims that are frankly not grounded in fact and are not grounded in any kind of a reality that I'm aware of. Flying is the safest form of transportation, period. Nothing is safer and this, in the United States, is the safest air traffic control system in the entire world. Sam Louie>> The contract for the controllers union expires by the end of September. Until then, both sides agree that safety remains the number one priority. I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times. Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Don't blame your local gas station. Gas prices might be at record highs, but the guy behind the counter at your corner gas station is not getting rich. In fact, many gas station owners are getting pinched. Hena Cuevas talked with John DeWitt of DeWitt Petroleum. His South El Monte company provides management services and products to gasoline retailers. Hena Cuevas>> What is going on and why are we paying so much for gasoline? John DeWitt>> Well, I'll give you my biases and my particular perspective. It's a function of, number one, what's available to buy. We now have a lot more people and we have a lot more impact on the air and the water and so on, and we're doing something about it. We have, in terms of fuel, the stuff I'm selling now out here to the cities and the schools and the service stations is probably the cleanest product in the world and it's no free lunch. Hena Cuevas>> One of the things that a lot of people aren't aware of is the fact that we do pay a lot of taxes per gallon. John DeWitt>> Yes (laughter). I think -- and I don't know what the numbers are, but I would guess that we're probably one of the highest in the United States. I think we're third or fourth in terms of taxes right now. Doing my homework before you came out, I think it's something like fifty-five cents a gallon in taxes. The rest of the balance for refining, for delivery, for marketing, for permits. I mean, goodness gracious, that's not for free. Also the people out there in the service stations got to make a living. I like a cold beer and syrup on my pancakes once in a while, so it just eats up a lot of money and I don't see that you can change much of that. Hena Cuevas>> Why do you think there's always claims that the gas station owners and the distributors, there's always claims of price-gouging? Do you think that's true? John DeWitt>> Well, if you mean by price-gouging that I would like to sell it at the highest possible profit margin, that is true. We operate a couple of service stations. We have about forty dealers out there that we service. They got a guy across the street that says, you know, don't go to Joe Blow's station. Come to mine because I'll sell it cheaper. Probably our biggest difficulty right now from the dealer's side is can they get product at a price that allows them to pay their help and make a profit and stay in business and still compete with the low guy down the street? Hena Cuevas>> When somebody goes to a gas station, what's the difference between paying cash or paying with a credit card? Is there an advantage? John DeWitt>> For the general public, most times it doesn't matter. To the dealer, it means that, when you use your credit card and you buy forty bucks worth of gas and use the bank card, it costs him about two and a half percent. So you have two and a half percent on a three dollar gallon of gas, it's significant numbers. You're looking at seven or eight cents a gallon it costs him to process that credit card for the bank. Hena Cuevas>> How are gas station owners then during this time period making a profit? John DeWitt>> Oh, selling a lot of candy bars, selling a lot of soda pop. Except for isolated situations, most of them have to do something else. The cost of property, now the cost of compliance with all of the regulatory things, is very extreme and they're having a tough time. Hena Cuevas>> How concerned are you about the current situation and the price of a barrel of petroleum going up? John DeWitt>> Well, the way it impacts my customer is that most of our customers are either retailers and selling to the general public or we have school districts and cities and commercial accounts that that part of their budget is going through the roof. That concerns me. Hena Cuevas>> How much longer do you think the current situation can be sustained? John DeWitt>> Do you mean, Hena, by that question, can we survive with those kinds of prices? I don't know. I'm not smart enough to answer that question. I would suggest that, as the price goes up, we are going to get more pressure to use alternative energy. We'll get more pressure to use mass transit. We'll get more pressure to use other methods of moving goods and moving people here in Southern California. Hena Cuevas>> Any tips and suggestions for consumers? John DeWitt>> For consumers, watch what goes on in the street. The price of gasoline is going to continue to fluctuate. Look at buying a car maybe that you can justify economically that gets you a little better gas mileage. The next time you replace your automobile, I would not suggest you go out and spend thirty-five grand and some change today. But when you replace the car, look at replacing the car with a higher mileage vehicle. Ride your bike (laughter). I mean, follow Lance Armstrong and ride your bike. Look at supporting mass transit. Hena Cuevas>> But that cuts into your business. John DeWitt>> Yeah, but there's 1.2 billion gallons of gasoline being sold in California every month. If we did all of those things, we would still have more business available for our kind of business than we'd possibly make up. Hena Cuevas>> Thank you, Mr. DeWitt, for all of the information and we'll pass it along to the consumers. John DeWitt>> Well, thank you, Hena. Kind of you to come here. Vicki Curry>> And now for this Life and Times story update. We've reported many times on the long battle over the famous Ambassador Hotel. The Ambassador and its Cocoanut Grove nightclub have a long history of glittering celebrations, but it may be best known as the site where Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. The hotel closed in 1989 and, in 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District purchased the property on Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown. The district planned to tear down the hotel and build a much-needed multi-school campus to serve more than four thousand students in the area, but preservation groups like the Los Angeles Conservancy fought to save the historic hotel, filing lawsuits and proposing ways to use the existing structure in future plans. Ken Bernstein>> This in fact is probably the broadest based coalition ever assembled in Los Angeles in support of preservation of an important site. Vicki Curry>> That battle is finally over. The Los Angeles Conservancy gave up its fight in July after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled against them. At that time, the Conservancy and a coalition of seven other organizations approached the school district with a settlement plan that was approved by the school board yesterday. Under the agreement, the groups will withdraw all legal challenges to the district's plans for the Ambassador. In exchange, the district will make a $4.9 million dollar contribution to a nonprofit organization that works to conserve historic school buildings. Frank Acevedo>> It is a better way to memorialize Robert F. Kennedy by building a school. Vicki Curry>> The school district plans to hold an auction of items from the hotel on September 10 and to demolish the Ambassador in October or November. To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Toni Guinyard>> Every year since 1999, Angelus Plaza here in downtown Los Angeles puts out a call for some talented folks to come take center stage. It's their annual Senior Talent Show. This time, we were invited and we learned you're never too old to have a lot of fun. Michael Sherman>> "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Ed Sullivan. This is a really big show here on a really big stage here for PBS." Toni Guinyard>> It's their moment to shine. Each contestant is given just three minutes in the spotlight, but in that time, something almost magical happens. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> The performers connect with the audience and suddenly they forget they're performing in a talent show at a housing complex for retirees. For those brief three minutes, this might as well be Broadway or Carnegie Hall. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> What does it feel like when everyone is watching you and you're at center stage? Bella Villeza>> Well, when I was a child, I loved it, you know, because you have everybody's attention. As you grow older, you develop fears and you're going, oh, did I play that note right? Oh, I just missed that. I bet everybody heard that note (laughter). Your fears build up as you grow up. Toni Guinyard>> For thirty-seven years, Bella Villeza was a teacher. Now the teacher has become a piano student. The talent show is a practice run for her recital. Bella Villeza>> This is just a crowd that wants to have fun. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> With a few quick kicks, the Mary Ellen Dancers grab the audience's attention and ours, daring us to blink less we miss a dip or a turn. Two of the ladies are in their early eighties, the youngest in her late seventies. But if you focus on the ages of the performers rather than the singing and the dancing and the effort being made, then you miss the best part of the story. Their stories about their journeys to get to this stage and to this point in their lives. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> This is Leonard Bluett. He's an actor, a jazz pianist, an octogenarian with a story to tell. His mother worked for Humphrey Bogart. Leonard Bluett>> She was with Bogart for almost thirty years as his cook. Toni Guinyard>> And he had a long-standing gig to perform at Bogart's birthday parties. Leonard Bluett>> I worked with the Marx Brothers in "A Day at the Races" and "A Day at the Circus" which they show now on television, and I worked with Lena Horne in three or four films, dancing. I worked on "Cabin in the Sky", "Stormy Weather". I love performing, for one thing. That's just innate in me and I love being the center of attention (laughter). That keeps me young. As I say, if I leave here tomorrow, I haven't missed a thing except I'll have a U-Haul behind my hearse, you know, so I can take it with me (laughter). Toni Guinyard>> They say you can't take it with you. Leonard Bluett>> I know. I can prove them wrong (laughter). Toni Guinyard>> Bluett's laugh punctuates just about every sentence as he weaves a tale of how things used to be. Leonard Bluett>> I was a glorified extra on "Gone With the Wind" and I was one of the confederate soldiers coming back from the war and I had a bandage on my head. Vivien Leigh rushed up to me and she said, "I have to get back to Tara. Where do I find Big Sammy? Have you seen Big Sam?" Toni Guinyard>> Bluett recalls segregated restrooms on the set of "Gone With the Wind". Leonard Bluett>> Colored-white-colored-white, all down the line. I couldn't believe it. Toni Guinyard>> And talks about how he and a handful of the extras approached actor, Clark Gable, with their concerns. He says Gable ordered the signs be torn down. Leonard Bluett>> Gable, with his stature -- at that time, he was the biggest -- he was the Brad Pitt of that day. It taught me that even the lowest men on the totem pole like myself, if you had enough -- well, I didn't want to say it, but you could go up to the biggest man and tell him how you feel about the situation. Toni Guinyard>> On this day, Bluett is far from being low man on the totem pole. [Film Clip] Michael Sherman>> It's a great feeling for one hour or fifteen minutes of fame or three minutes of fame. You got the microphone and you're in control. You're in charge most of the time. Toni Guinyard>> Impressionist Michael Sherman understands the need to be in the spotlight. Over the years, he's made a name for himself doing impersonations: Jack Benny -- Michael Sherman>> "PBS, they're always asking for a pledge. Well, I'm pledging, I'm pledging." Toni Guinyard>> George Burns -- Michael Sherman>> "I'm so old that my social security number is three." Toni Guinyard>> Ed Sullivan -- Michael Sherman>> "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the former President of the United States. Let's hear it for Richard Nixon." Michael Sherman>> "My fellow Americans." Michael Sherman>> I keep the ball rolling, you know, from the old school of comedy of the Jack Bennys and George Burns and Red Skelton, even Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. That's what I grew up watching and I enjoyed it and it's not just coming from -- it comes from here, my heart. It does come from here and I think people realize that when I perform. Toni Guinyard>> And even though Mr. Sherman, Mr. Bluett nor Ms. Villeze placed in the competition, their energy and outlook will perhaps inspire others to take center stage. Bella Villeza>> Many people are just starved for attention, for somebody to just listen to them and attend to them and just affirm them that they are alive and that they can still do things even if they're older. [Film Clip] Leonard Bluett>> Get out there and do something. Just don't sit and wish somebody to knock on your door and say, hey. It ain't going to happen. You got to get out and do it for yourself. Do it for yourself, yeah. [Film Clip] Michael Sherman>> You've got it in your heart and soul to be a performer. It's what you do and you just keep doing it until you can't do it anymore. Michael Sherman>> "Tonight, you ladies and gentlemen, you have been an audience." [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> I can't wait to retire. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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