The National Association of United States Air Traffic Controllers has revealed that the country is dealing with a critical shortage of air traffic controllers, which is among the worst deficits in almost 30 years.
The deficit has taken excessive extra time, with many controllers working “six days a week, 10 hours a day, for years,” said the president of the Union, Nick Daniels, before a chamber subcommittee.
The country needs more than 3,000 new air traffic controlle to meet the safe personnel levels, he said, since the recent aviation incidents have highlighted the tension in exhausted controllers.
“The new, or more problematic or more common now, is the use of overtime,” said Michael McCormick, professor and air traffic management coordinator at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He pointed out that the largest facilities have the worst part of this problem.
According to a special CNN report, the concerns about the staff have been exacerbated by high profile accidents. In January, a commercial jet and a military helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people.
While the cause is still under investigation, CNN confirmed that a controller was handling both local air traffic and helicopter traffic at that time. In addition, a nearby collision in 2023 was linked to a controller distracted by a third plane, although the shortage of personnel was not explicitly cited in the report.
To address the crisis, the federal government has announced salary increases for new hiring and simplified hiring processes.
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However, strict age restrictions limit the group of applicants, since any person over 31 is not eligible to apply. Air traffic controllers must be withdrawn at age 56, which means that many abandon the profession years before the standard retirement age.
McCormick explained the cognitive demands of work, comparing air traffic control with a three -dimensional version of Tetris, which requires controllers to memorize large amounts of data.
“It also provides approach control services (a) all those airports. So, everything that needs to be memorized … You can't waste time and energy looking at something or trying to remember something, “he said.
The Government Efficiency Department (Doge), led by Elon Musk, has urged air traffic controllers withdrawn to work.
“There is a shortage of top -level air traffic controllers,” Musk published in X. “If he has retired, but he is open to return to work, he considers doing it.”
However, the Federal Law requires retirement in 56, with only rare exemptions that allow work up to 60. Many controllers choose to retire early due to generous pensions, McCormick said.
Despite efforts to increase hiring, less than 10% of applicants meet the strict requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, which include rigorous medical and security authorizations and an intensive training process that lasts up to three years.
“Two or three years are needed for a driver to be qualified … just to enter work,” Daniels said. The union reported that about 41% of air traffic controllers are currently working in 60 hours, just in 24 hours before starting another exhausting calendar.
McCormick attributed the scarcity in progress to factors such as COVID-19, economic recessions and government closures, with hiring and training to stop every time the government closes. A possible closure on March 14 could get worse, he warned.
The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, promised to “overheat the hiring of air traffic controlle.” The hiring window is open until March 17, with the initial payment of academy's apprentices that increases from $ 17.61 to $ 22.61 per hour.
Certified drivers can expect to win more than $ 160,000 in three years. The FAA has also reduced its process of contracting eight steps to five, with the aim of shaving four months outside the recruitment times.
While the FAA exceeded its goal of hiring 1,800 controllers in 2024, the highest in almost a decade, McCormick emphasized the need for additional action, including the recruitment of high school students to increase the long -term interest in the profession. “It's going to take time,” he said. “It will have been filling that void for years.”
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