Congressional Hearing, June 15, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi: We
covered last week's House Aviation Subcommittee hearing on the FAA's "Air Traffic
Controller Hiring, Staffing, and Training Plans." Subcommittee on Aviation Chairman
Frank LoBiondo opened the hearing by highlighting that the National Airspace System
(NA S) is operating with the lowest staffing levels in 27 years. Looking forward, he
worries that due to projected increases in airline passengers, that the FAA may be
forced to reduce air traffic services. "This has led me to conclude the current controller
h iring process is underserving our nation and the flying public," LoBiondo added.
In his opening remarks, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi described current staffing
levels as a "crisis" that puts the status of the largest, safest, most efficient, most complex,
most diverse airspace system in the world at risk. He said that staffing is one of the most
critical problems facing the NAS.
"Further staffing reductions could have an immediate detrimental effect on
capacity, meaning fewer planes in the sky and greater potential for delays," said Rinaldi.
"Likewise, the FAA would continue to fall further behind in its development, testing,
deployment and training for NextGen modernization programs, procedures, and
equipment."
Full NATCA Insider Coverage of the Hearing: Please click here .
NATCA Press Release: Please click here .
Video of the Full Hearing: Please click here .
Full NATCA Written Testimony: Please click here .
Graphic – National Staffing Totals: Please click here .
H.R. 5292, the Air Traffic Controller Hiring Improvement Act of 2016: Please click
here t o learn more about legislation that NATCA supports.
OPINION/EDITORIAL COLUMN, BY NATCA EVP TRISH GILBERT
Last week, we placed a column on the staffing crisis, written by NATCA
Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert, in The Hill newspaper. Wrote Trish: "Ou r nation's
air traffic control (ATC) system relies on a well - trained, highly qualified workforce. Air
traffic controllers must work rapidly and efficiently under tremendous stress while
maintaining complete concentration. Controllers guide 70,000 flights a day in the U.S.
while ensuring that 736 million passengers a year arrive at their destinations safely.
"Unfortunately, budgetary missteps and bureaucratic red tape have led to a
shortage of controllers. What has been a concern for many years has now reac hed a
crisis level. The nation's ATC system has the fewest Certified Professional Controllers –
10,667 - in nearly three decades. Controller staffing has fallen nearly 10 percent since
2011, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has missed its hiring g oals for the last
seven years, and there are currently more controllers eligible to retire today than are
currently in the pipeline to replace them. Significant changes are needed immediately."
To read the full column, please click here .
OPINION/EDITORIAL COLUMN, BY NATCA PRESIDENT PAUL RINALDI
Last week, we also placed a column by NATCA President Paul Rinaldi in The
Washingt on Times, entitled, "Air Traffi c Control Shouldn't Model Metro." Wrote Paul:
" The Metro subway system in Washington, D.C., is a national disgrace. The U.S.
secretary of transportation has even threatened to shut it down unless its safety
problems are repai red. Thousands of commuters and tourists would be disadvantaged if
that happened.
" Sadly, Metro's problems aren't different in kind than the woes of a much bigger
and more important transit system, the air traffic control (ATC) system that guides
millions of passengers to their destinations each year. No one is thinking of shutting
