Summary

  • Airlines for America has launched a “Staff the Towers” campaign to address the US’s urgent air traffic controller shortage.
  • The shortage has directly impacted airline operations, causing cancelations and delays, especially in high-traffic areas like New York.
  • Despite initiatives like reviving the Collegiate Training Initiative, more needs to be done by the DOT and FAA to ensure sufficient controller staffing for safety and efficiency.

Airlines for America, a trade association and lobbying group, is urging the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to address the air traffic controller shortage in the United States. The group has launched a campaign called “Staff the Towers” to highlight the issues facing air traffic control and to stimulate action to increase human resources.

Sounding the alarm

Aviation in the United States is facing a shortage in one of the most crucial components of aviation: air traffic control (ATC). Earlier this week, Airlines for America (A4A), an American trade association and lobbying group, announced a new campaign. The Staff the Towers campaign aims to encourage the FAA and DOT to “take swift action to address the nation’s urgent and dire air traffic controller shortage.”

air traffic control screen

Photo : mr. teerapon tiuekhom | Shutterstock

A4A’s President and CEO, Nicholas E. Calio, called out the US Transportation Secretary and FAA Administrator for not taking enough action to address the problem. He noted that it has been more than a year since the A4A began sounding the alarm and that more should have been done. Calio added,

“The lack of ATC staffing has a direct impact on airline operations and the travelling public, which is especially concerning as we head into another record-setting summer travel period.”

The New York Metropolitan area has been the most affected area by the ATC shortages in recent years. For several summers, airlines have been forced to reduce their operations in the area because ATC could not handle the load. A4A highlighted that airlines canceling and/or delaying flights is no fault of the airlines.

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The cuts to minimum flight requirements are currently in place until October this year.

In November 2023, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced their support for reviving the Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) program. CTI was created to train prospective controllers while in college. Upon graduation, students could begin training in a tower. Unfortunately, not much has been done since the announcement last November.

An air traffic controller working at night

Photo: American Airlines

Calio expressed his appreciation for ATC staff and their roles but added,

“However, in order to ensure continued safety and efficiency – especially as we head into a record-breaking summer travel season – the DOT and FAA need to do more to make sure our radar facilities have enough controllers on the job.”

Increasing the workforce

Hiring ATC personnel has been an important mission for the FAA in recent years. The agency published a Controller Workforce Plan, which showed that the country has a deficit of 3,000 controllers. In 2024, legislation was passed that mandated the FAA to maximize recruitment efforts.

However, the deficit continues, and intrinsic problems with the recruitment process continue to come to light. Students who were once guaranteed a job upon completion of the Collegiate Traning Initiative (CTI) had the rug pulled from under them in 2013, when the FAA suddenly scrapped direct access for CTI graduates, moving instead to implement a biographical questionnaire designed to give more opportunities to people from ethnic minorities.

An air traffic controller working in the tower.

Photo: Gorodenkoff I Shutterstock 

Thousands of trained and capable new air traffic controllers were lost. The CTI has returned, in the form of the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI). Announced in February, the FAA is working with colleges to open the program to students in time for school year 2024/25. The FAA says,

The Enhanced AT-CTI program will bolster the current hiring pipeline by allowing the FAA to hire more candidates who can begin facility training immediately upon graduation.

However, this can’t bring back the talent that was lost a decade ago, and there is even an ongoing class action lawsuit against the FAA for throwing out applicants based on their race. None of that fixes the problem in the short term, and with increasing ‘near miss’ incidents at US airports, often linked to overworked ATC staff, the busy summer season is sure to be a crunch time for air traffic control in the USA.

Related

Air Traffic Controller Shortage Is Damaging Aviation Safety

Witnesses at the senate hearing cautioned that ongoing ATC staffing issues could lead to further near-miss incidents across the US.

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