NATCA Bookshelf

N A T I O N A L A I R T R A F F I C C O N T R O L L E R S A S S O C I A T I O N | W W W . N AT C A . O R G N i W To d a y 31 31 31 31 ISSUES continue to be transparent with its rapidly increasing need for F&E funding so that it can meet its own equipment sustainment, replacement, and modernization needs. Failing to maintain and replace critical safety equipment that has exceeded its expected life harms the NAS because it introduces unnecessary risk into the system. C o n t r o l l e r H i r i n g & Tr a i n i n g NATCA continues to work on improving the sys- tem-wide controller staffing shortage. A proper- ly-staffed controller workforce is necessary in order to safely and efficiently meet all of its operational, statutory, and contractual requirements, while also having the personnel resources to research, develop, deploy, and then train the existing workforce on new processes, technology, and modernization initia- tives. Short-staffing leads to fatigue, which greatly affects controllers and the system. The FAA has not kept up with air traffic controller attrition as a result of missing its hiring targets for much of the last decade. Fortunately, the FAA has exceeded its air traffic controller trainee hiring targets for three consecutive years, including increased targets of 1,500 and 1,800 respectively over the past two fiscal years. These improvements have resulted in some progress. After a decade of steady losses, in FY 2023, the FAA added 15 additional Certified Professional Controllers (CPCs) and 15 additional trainees. In FY 2024, the FAA added 140 CPCs and 189 trainees after accounting for attrition. Because only 60% of all controller trainees reach full certification within five years (many of those who do not are removed or resign from employment with the FAA), the FAA will not only need adequate resources but, just as importantly, the FAA will need to make sustained commitment to maximum controller hiring for many years into the future to see positive, tangible results in controller staffing levels. F a c i l i t i e s & E q u i p m e n t FAA's F&E budget has not kept up with inflation over the past 15 years. For instance, the FAA has consistently requested roughly $3 billion in annual appropriations for F&E, even though in FY 2024 the Agency's internal budgetary estimates showed that it needed at least $4.5 billion, with that need quickly approaching $6 billion. This loss of spending and buying power for F&E programs forced FAA to adopt a "fix-on-fail" model by requiring it to prioritize mandatory costs, leaving little to no money for modernization and infrastructure programs. Moreover, FAA currently has no choice but to replace its copper wire telecommunications lines with fiberoptic internet protocol systems, because local telecommunications companies are shutting off copper wire service. This forced prioritization of certain programs and costs over others leaves limited resources for important programs such as ATC facility replacement, the NAS facility sustainment backlog, the NAS system sustainment backlog, NAS system improvements, radar and surveillance sustainment and replacement, and Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and Terminal Radar Approach Control facility (TRACON) replacement, just to name a few. Fortunately, the FAA's FY 2025 F&E budget request, for the first time in over a decade, acknowledges its true need of nearly $6 billion. Going forward, the FAA must be transparent with its rapidly increasing F&E needs and continue to request, and Congress to provide, robust funding levels in the near-term while planning for future increased budgetary needs. Further shortfalls could jeopardize hiring, training, modernization, sustainment of critical equipment and programs, and physical infrastructure, which all introduce unnecessary risk into the system. FAA Funding Requires Robust Authorization and Appropriations Levels Issue

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