Today, air traffic controllers at OIA are adjusting to a change in their job descriptions...and many of them are not happy.

The Federal Aviation Association has ordered that instead of doing jobs in both the radar room and the control tower, controllers will now be split up to specialize in one or the other. The Florida branch of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association is strongly opposed to the re-organization, as are over a dozen Central Florida Congress members from both sides of the aisle.

Association representative Jim Marinitti says the plan takes away the flexibility that knowledge of both positions can bring, and amounts to cutting corners to save money and to quickly replace a retiring workforce.

"You're gonna have less experienced controllers working more traffic and longer hours, and that is absolutely a recipe for disaster," he says.

According to Kathleen Bergen of the FAA Southern Region, though, the opposite is true.

"Allowing controllers to specialize in certain areas will reduce overtime and enhance the training," she notes.

Bergen says this change has been made in major airports across the country, and safety has never be compromised.

"First and foremost, operations in and out of Orlando International Airport are safe and will continue to be safe under the new reorganization," assures Bergen.