Gentlemen,
I'd like to advance the theory that the FAA's recent action has nothing to do with safety and probably little (if anything) to do with the recent Congressional hearings. It's all about putting the FAA's controllers between a rock and a hard place.
1) Violate pilots -- lose your public and professional support.
2) Don't violate pilots -- lose your job.
The first offense for failing to report a deviation (according to union people that I trust to know) carries a possible penalty of 30 days without pay -- up to termination. The second violation is termination -- period.
Unless the aviation industry sees through this and stops it before it gets started -- there will be a war between pilots and controllers that will be very difficult to stop. Everyone will get hurt.
John Carr (ex-NATCA president) appealed to the controllers to refuse to participate in this madness today on his blog -- "The Main Bang." I agree but we're both retired and it would be a tough job to convince controllers to risk their jobs even if we weren't.
For those that don't know, the FAA imposed their work rules on U.S. controllers over 700 days ago. NATCA (the U.S. controller's union) is in an incredibly weak position at the moment. They don't have a contract. They can barely protect their jobs much less a pilot's license.
I urge you to fight against this injustice too. Standing on the sidelines doesn't seem like it would be a smart option.
Please, don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself. This could get ugly.
Don Brown