Union blasts FAA for traffic controller staffing

NATCA says more staff, better pay, could help mitigate flight delays

Matt McCluskey directs air and runway traffic from the control tower at Logan International Airport in Boston. The air traffic controllers union says airline delays will worsen unless the government hires more air traffic controllers and pays them better. The controllers argue that a lack of staff — as well as inadequate capacity on runways and at airport gates — are the true reason for record flight delays that have bedeviled passengers this summer.

Michael Dwyer / AP

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updated 6:57 p.m. ET Oct. 2, 2007

WASHINGTON - Airline delays will worsen unless the government hires more air traffic controllers and pays them better, the union representing air traffic controllers said Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association are locked in a dispute over a new contract for the controllers. The FAA declared an impasse last year and imposed a contract.

The controllers argue that a lack of staff — as well as inadequate capacity on runways and at airport gates — are the true reason for record flight delays that have bedeviled passengers this summer.

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The airline industry and the FAA, meanwhile, blame outdated technology, bad weather and increasing passenger traffic. The industry's on-time performance through July was its worst since comparable data began being collected in 1995, and the Department of Transportation is scheduled to release August data on Wednesday.

Both the airlines and the government are pressing for a new, satellite-based air traffic control system that will cost about $15 billion and take nearly 20 years to complete. Airline traffic is projected to double by 2025.

The FAA in late August awarded ITT Corp. a contract worth up to $1.8 billion to build the first portion the system. On Tuesday, the agency said it wants all planes to be equipped to use the new navigation technology by 2020.

While the FAA has conducted a "masterful PR campaign" to build support for the upgrade, known as NextGen, it won't bring any benefits for at least a decade, Patrick Forrey, the president of the air traffic controllers union, said in a conference call.

"NextGen is pie in the sky. What about Now-Gen?" Forrey quipped.

Delays and staffing shortages will continue as the union expects up to 1,300 controllers to retire this year and next, Forrey said. Although the FAA plans to add at least that many new hires to replace them, it takes at least three years for someone to be certified to handle air traffic on their own, union officials said.

Union officials said dozens of new hires in the New York area have resigned in the last two years, citing inadequate initial salaries.

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But the FAA insists it has adequate staffing in New York and nationwide, and is planning for upcoming retirements, said agency spokeswoman Laura Brown. Over the past year, Brown said, the FAA has hired about 1,700 air traffic controllers and aims to increase the total number of controllers from nearly 15,000 to 16,000 by 2016.

"We're steadily ramping up the number of controllers we have out there," she said. "We've seen a phenomenal amount of interest in these jobs."