Will Hire Almost 1,400 Controllers In 2007

In something of an about-face to repeated claims the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had adequate numbers of new hires waiting in the wings to replace retiring air traffic controllers, Wednesday morning the FAA released its "updated" plan to hire more controllers over the next 10 years, which includes hiring almost 1,400 controllers this year alone.

The FAA states the plan "provides a range of authorized controller staffing numbers for each of the FAA’s 314 staffed facilities across the country, giving the agency greater flexibility to match the number of controllers with traffic volume and workload."

In a release to ANN, the agency stated it will hire and train more than 15,000 controllers over the next decade, as more controllers become eligible for retirement. The updated plan calls for hiring 189 more controllers this year, than 2006 hiring levels.

In developing the individual staffing ranges, the FAA states it considered past performance, the performance of similar ATC facilities, improvements to productivity, industrial engineering staffing standards, and recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences -- as well as input from field managers, overtime trends, time-on position data and expected retirements.

The agency also states the updated staffing requirements also take into account the unique facility requirements, such as temporary airport construction, seasonal activity and the number of controllers currently in training.

"Air traffic levels are very dynamic," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. "It is critical that we staff facilities based on actual and forecasted traffic demands. We are confident that the new controller hires will be able to meet the needs of the future."

In fiscal year 2006, the FAA hired 1,116 new controllers, increasing the total number of controllers to 14,618 -- numbers the agency says will only increase in coming years. To combat that increased training workload, the FAA says it has increased capacity at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, and at air traffic facility simulators to lower the average training time from three years to two years at terminal facilities... and from five years to three years for en route facilities.

The FAA also claims it has made significant progress in effectively staffing facilities by using improved scheduling practices, new automated tools, and better management of leave.

NATCA Responds

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association responded to the FAA's change in plans by stating the agency is "simply staffing to budget and not to what is needed to safely run the National Airspace System."

"According to the FAA’s most recent "Administrator’s Fact Book," published in December 2006, there are 14,206 air traffic controllers working in the United States," NATCA tells ANN. "That represents a drop in controller staffing levels for the third straight year and provides a strong indication that despite the FAA’s attempts to hire the next generation workforce to offset the long-expected retirement wave that has now arrived, the agency is losing more controllers than it is hiring."

Perhaps not entirely by surprise, NATCA states this deficiency is primarily due to lower pay bands and harsher work rules imposed on controllers last year. NATCA claims those factors "have removed any incentive for veteran controllers to either transfer to busier facilities in need of more controllers or even to stay in the workforce altogether."

The union also cites examples of new hires who chose to leave the FAA for greener pastures (literally -- one left to start a lawn mowing business, according to NATCA.)

"Even FAA management officials at the facility level are acknowledging that veteran controllers are leaving sooner than ever upon reaching retirement eligibility, thereby depleting available ranks of fully certified controllers and also removing the on-the-job trainers to assist with the development of new hires," NATCA tells ANN.

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