NATCA Bookshelf

N A T C A I N W A S H I N G T O N 2 0 2 5 N i W To d a y 20 20 20 20 MEETINGS N A T C A I N W A S H I N G T O N 2 0 2 5 N i W To d a y 20 20 20 20 ISSUES S t a ffi n g A n d Tr a i n i n g C h a l l e n g e s Pe r s i s t Issue u Quick Reference 1 Air traffic controller staffing and training continue to be critical areas of concern for NATCA as the FAA remains near a 30-year low for CPCs. Controller staffing levels have fallen 9% since 2012 and about 4% of the CPC workforce is eligible to retire. How This Issue Affects NATCA Members Air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals are dedicated and highly skilled workers who take great pride in keeping the traveling public safe. All too often, they are forced to shoulder the burden of chronically understaffed facilities. Controllers at the most critically understaffed facilities are forced to work mandatory overtime including 6-day workweeks and 10-hour days to maintain current system capacity. Moreover, chronic understaffing of controllers has contributed to flight delays, interruptions to air traffic service, and decreased system capacity because controllers are not always able to provide the type of service the flying public deserves. We must continue to improve the hiring, training, and placement of controllers throughout the National Airspace System (NAS). Last year, with overwhelming bipartisan support, Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which contained many of NATCA's top policy priorities. By law, the FAA is now required to conduct maximum hiring of new air traffic controller trainees for the five-year duration of the law and to adopt the Collaborative Resource Workgroup's controller staffing model that the FAA's Air Traffic Organization developed with NATCA as the basis for the FY 2025 Controller Workforce Plan. 2 In order to resolve its staffing and training challenges, the FAA and Congress must continue to take a holistic approach. After reaching its hiring targets for air traffic controller trainees for three consecutive years, including increased targets of 1,500 and 1,800 the past two fiscal years, the FAA is starting to make some progress. After a decade of steady losses, in FY 2023, the FAA added 15 additional Certified Professional Controllers and 15 additional trainees. In FY 2024, the FAA added 140 CPCs and 189 trainees after accounting for attrition. 3

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