COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
NATCA DETAILS STAFFING CRISIS, OUTLINES RECOMMENDATIONS TO FIX IT,
BEFORE HOUSE AVIATION SUBCOMMITTEE; GOOD PRESS COVERAGE
NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert on Dec.
8 discussed issues su rrounding the nation's air traffic controller staffing shortage at a
roundtable policy discussion on the FAA's air traffic controller hiring, staffing and training
plans, held by the House Transportation & Infrastruc ture Subcommittee on Aviation.
Official FAA data shows the agency missed its air traffic controller hiring goal for
the fifth consecutive fiscal year in 2015 . Air traffic controller staffing has been a concern
for many years, but it has now reached a crisis level. As NATCA has said repeatedly
ov er the past few years: the status quo is unacceptable. While there are some
encouraging signs, NATCA's concern is that hiring numbers are not keeping up with
attrition. That problem could get worse before it gets better; Of the 10,833 certified
controllers , 31 percent are eligible to retire at any time.
We issued a press release that contained the full opening remarks from Paul.
You can read that here.
FACT SHEET: Updated national controller staffing, 2011 - 2015
PRESS CLIPPINGS FROM THE ROUNDTABLE:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Busy Air Traffic Control Facilities Lack Enough Controllers
THE HILL
Union presses lawmakers to fix air traffic controller shortfall
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
What can be don e to alleviate shortage of air traffic controllers? The labor union
representing American air traffic controllers warns air traffic control facilities are
understaffed, but they say there's a solution.
More TV/Radio coverage of the staffing shortage an d Tuesday's
roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill with the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee:
WBBM - radio Chicago
WFLD - TV Chicago
KUSA - TV Denver
KXAS - TV Dallas
ABC News
WHSV - TV (Fox local affiliate)
NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON : We are preparing to launch our redesign ed, improved,
and streamline d natca.org web site, which will include a new section for members. We've
got a few matters left to wrap up but expect to roll it out next week. Look for our "grand
opening" announcement in the Dec. 18 issue of the NATCA Insider. The new site will be
much more mobile - devi ce friendly than the current site and we're anxious to have you try
it out on your smartphones and/or tablets. To access the members only portion, you will
need the username and password that you currently use to access the NATCA Portal. If
you don't know or remember those credentials, you can get those now by visiting this
page here .
