A fledgling union, formally backed by nearly half the nation’s air traffic controllers, is asking recognition as bargaining agent for the workers who have been without a union since

President Reagan fired 11,400 striking controllers in 1981. Officials with the Federal Labor Relations Authority said an election could be held within three or four months, depending on how

hard the Federal Aviation Administration challenges the effort to re-establish a union for the current 12,500 controllers. MORE TO READ