America Doesn’t Have Enough Air-Traffic Controllers, and That’s a Problem

livemint.com:

American air-traffic-control facilities are short on controllers, leading to delayed flights and adding potential safety risks. Nearly every U.S. air-traffic facility needs more fully trained controllers to help orchestrate thousands of takeoffs and landings of commercial and private aircraft each day, Federal Aviation Administration staffing data show.

The agency has about 1,000 fewer fully certified controllers than it did a decade ago, according to an FAA-commissioned report issued in November. The report said the agency was on track to gain fewer than 200 more controllers over the next decade. Officials at the National Transportation Safety Board and controller union have expressed alarm that the struggle to staff critical roles is straining the nation’s air-traffic system as the number of passengers boarding U.S.

flights has been hitting record highs. The FAA, which manages the nation’s air-traffic facilities, says it has been able to mitigate safety risks, while pushing to hire and train more controllers. With some facilities short-handed, the agency this year has at times halted departures or otherwise slowed down air traffic to guard against mishaps.

Investigators with the NTSB remain concerned, and are examining staffing issues as they probe serious near-collisions on the tarmac over the past year. The safety board so far hasn’t determined that staffing issues played any role in the close calls, which might also involve pilot missteps. In February, a controller’s apparent error led to a FedEx cargo plane nearly landing on a Southwest Airlines jet at the Austin, Texas, airport.