FAA Manager Replies "We're So Safe, It's Ridiculous"

Regular Aero-News readers are quite familiar with the ongoing war of words between air traffic controllers and the FAA, ever since the agency imposed a new five-year contract following the breakdown in negotiations between the two sides last year. For controllers who are planning to retire this year from their jobs in the control tower at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, though, what is seen by many as a political battle is also a very personal one.

"I love it," said Dave Berrang, telling the Reno Gazette-Journal about his 23 years as an air traffic controller. "I bet you ask any air traffic controller anywhere, who wouldn't say they love their job."

Berrang is one of five controllers at RNO who have announced they will retire this year; a sixth is eligible. That's a big number, Berrang says... and he and others are worried about safety.

"As an air traveler, I'd be concerned about the way the agency is staffing facilities across the nation," he said. "It's becoming unsafe."

That's an assertion -- echoed by air traffic controllers throughout the country, as well as the National Air Traffic Controllers Association -- that FAA Tower Manager Donald Brooks flatly denies.

"Our staffing meets our need, and we are more than able to safely provide ATC services," Brooks said. "We're so safe, it's ridiculous."

Brooks does concede staffing levels at RNO are slightly lower than they should be, however. Earlier this year, the FAA lowered the number of authorized controllers required to be in Reno's Class C tower to between 20 and 24 -- down from 27 three years ago. At the moment, RNO has 16 certified controllers on staff, and another six at varying stages in their training.

"We're slightly outside of range at the moment," Brooks admits. "My guess is about in 2008, we will be completely good to go."

Representatives with airlines flying into Reno -- most notably Southwest Airlines -- express confidence the FAA has a handle on the situation, and the agency's ability to maintain safety.

"We know the issue has been on the front burner for several years," Southwest spokeswoman Paula Berg told the paper. "We stay plugged in and monitor the situation through ATA."

"We look to the FAA to assess those needs," adds Elizabeth Merida, spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association. "The industry safety records speak for themselves, and we trust the FAA to continue to assess the proper staffing needs."

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the agency has a plan to handle lower staffing levels -- by bringing new controllers online, and consolidating positions. Reno is a good example of a facility that can handle such a reduction, he adds, due to its reasonably light traffic load -- on average, controllers talk with six airplanes at a time.

"That is a very safe thing to do at a low-traffic facility such as Reno," he said. "Also, it is a common measure at facilities all over the country."

Berrang disputes that total, saying he and other controllers in the tower cab, and the radar room downstairs at RNO, may talk to as many as 12 planes at any one time.

"[W]e don't feel it's safe," he said. "I don't want to be flying in skies that aren't safe because the agency isn't staffing facilities to take care of the number of airplanes."

Controller John Lopez says a recent incident at RNO shows why more eyes, not fewer, are needed in the tower. "A clearance controller making corrections for an aircraft did not catch an aircraft about to cross an active runway because their attention was diverted to other responsibilities," he said. "The ground position has to have eyes out the window."

Lopez also expressed doubts on the ability of certified controllers to train new hires, while also working consolidated positions.

"The problem is, who is going to train them?" he said. "I was training four to five hours a day when I was a trainee. And some of our trainees are lucky to get four to five hours a week."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.natca.org