Over the next 10 years,
the FAA expects to hire and train air traffic controllers more
efficiently and will staff each air traffic facility with the
appropriate number of controllers to offset an expected wave of air
traffic controller retirements, the agency announced in a
controller staffing plan released Monday.
The plan calls for hiring 12,500 controllers over 10 years to
cover projected total retirement and non-retirement controller
losses. That level of hiring reflects the required lead time for
training and will maintain the appropriate ratio between
developmental and fully certified controllers.
The plan also outlines the actions the FAA will take to fully
train controllers more quickly, which will ensure enough recruits
in the pipeline to replace the more than 11,000 controllers who are
expected to leave the agency between now and 2014. Hiring an
additional 1,500 new controllers over the next 10 years takes into
account increases in traffic volume, an expected 5 percent training
failure rate, and the still higher than normal retirement rates
beyond 2014.
Staffing efficiencies,
productivity improvements and better management will enable the
agency to reduce staffing requirements by at least 10 percent over
the 10-year period from previous projections, producing a reduction
of 1,700 positions. The plan will be updated on an annual basis to
reflect traffic volume changes and further productivity
increases.
"We will continue to operate the world's safest aviation system
by being smarter and more efficient about our staffing needs," said
FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. "This plan is our blueprint to
put the right number of controllers in the right place at the right
time."
Expanded and more advanced simulator training in the field and
other training improvements will help the FAA better train
controllers in more realistic conditions more quickly than they
have been trained in the past. Improvements in classroom training,
increased use of high-technology simulators, and more efficient
on-the-job training can compress the full training process from 3-5
years to 2-3 years, the report concluded. Other efficiencies in the
screening process already have significantly slashed hiring costs
and have dramatically reduced the failure rate.
"The plan is good news for our controllers," said Blakey.
Benefits include:
- Advanced and more
effective training enables the controller to reach CPC level
faster;
- Staffing facilities according to traffic volume allows for a
more "family friendly" work environment by reducing required
overtime, while avoiding the cost of having full staffs on duty
when traffic is light;
- Part-time positions and split shifts provide opportunities for
more flexible employment; and,
- Help create opportunities for controllers to advance more
rapidly.
The FAA also is sending to the Federal
Register, Monday, today a proposal to allow exceptional,
medically fit controllers to continue to serve beyond the mandatory
retirement age of 56. More than 15,000 FAA air traffic controllers
currently staff 315 facilities across the country that range from
small towers to large air route traffic control centers. They guide
aircraft that use 600 commercial airports and 3,300 smaller
public-use airports.