Crossing Runways

Larry and Alison Deyer are living the good life in a waterfront home on Long Island, N.Y., but all that is about to change. They work at JFK Airport as air traffic controllers and are active members of the Air Traffic Control Union (ATCO). On Aug. 3, 1981, Larry, the union's president, is preoccupied with the impending strike vote against the FAA, while Alison is about to give birth to their first child. This pivotal moment creates a turbulent wake of circumstances when they intersect with disastrous results.

It begins when the government, desperate for replacement controllers, hires Alison back to work, but not Larry because she was considered to be on maternity leave and not on strike like him. It culminates when Alison becomes the central figure of an investigation involving a tragic "miscommunication" between her and a military controller hired to replace the strikers. Who's to blame? Is there an F.A.A. cover-up?

With lost lives and dreams scattered on the runway, the truth emerges in a Congressional hearing. But it isn't over until Larry goes on trial for striking illegally against the government. Take a trip inside the world of air traffic control where Crossing Runways is a metaphor for life.