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NIW Today | 41 ISSUE Air traffic controller staffing has been a concern for many years. It reached a crisis level in 2015. Despite recent progress, it remains a crisis, one that was exacerbated by the 35-day government shutdown. The National Airspace System (NAS) is at a 30-year low in the number of certified professional controllers (CPCs). Controller staffing has fallen over 10% since 2011, and more than 18% of the CPC workforce is eligible to retire. The stop-and-go funding stream for the FAA has made this problem worse. Both the most recent government shutdown and sequestration in 2013 forced the FAA to suspend hiring and shutter its training Academy for significant periods of time. If this staffing crisis continues, the FAA will be hard- pressed to maintain current capacity, let alone modernize the system and expand it for new users, such as commercial space and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). MESSAGE The most recent 35-day government shutdown was a disaster for the FAA workforce, including air traffic controllers, traffic management coordinators, and other aviation safety professionals who worked without pay, and over 3,000 NATCA- represented FAA employees who were furloughed without pay. The FAA suspended hiring and training for all new hires during the shutdown. The FAA Training Academy in Oklahoma City was closed, and it took the FAA several weeks to restart those classes after the shutdown ended. In addition, controller advanced skills classes were canceled. The FAA's hiring target for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 was 1,431, but following the shutdown, the Agency reduced it to 907. Further CPC staffing reductions will have lasting detrimental effects on capacity, meaning fewer aircraft in the sky and greater potential for delays. NATCA believes the FAA must take a holistic, collaborative approach to resolving the staffing crisis. We are committed to working with all stakeholders to develop a permanent, sustainable solution. NATCA would be deeply concerned with any action that could further impede efforts to properly staff the NAS with CPCs, including the potential for future furloughs or another closure of the training Academy. Until the most recent shutdown, NATCA, the FAA, and Congress were taking steps in the right direction to resolving the staffing crisis. For instance, Congress passed the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, which improved the FAA's hiring process by streamlining the hiring of controllers who have prior experience, as well as veterans and CTI students. Additionally, as part of the government funding bill passed in March 2018, NATCA worked with members of Congress to secure two important provisions: one that allows the FAA to reinstate its Retired Military Controller (RMC) program; and a second that helps address the staffing crisis at New York TRACON (N90) and New York Center (ZNY) by allowing the FAA, after consultation with NATCA, to post vacancy announcements for these two facilities within the local commuting area. Both of these provisions take steps in the right direction, but there is much work still to be done. NATCA recommends the following actions to continue alleviating the staffing shortage: • The FAA should routinely post vacancy announcements for experienced air traffic controllers and should continue to hire as many experienced controllers as are qualified. • The FAA should continue posting, at least annually, an all-sources open announcement for non-experienced candidates, many of whom come from CTI schools, the military, and other aviation-related professions. • The FAA should hire as many controller candidates as maximum throughput (approx. 2,000) would allow at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. • The FAA should continue to streamline the hiring process, specifically easing the bottlenecks and bureaucratic delays in HR, security, and medical. FULL BACKGROUND continued on next page

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