Under the new rules, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association:
--Controllers can no longer call in sick when they are simply tired.
--They cannot call in sick with a cold.
--Breaks after two hours are no longer guaranteed.
The new rules have been in the works since contract negotiations between the FAA and the controllers' union broke down in April. But a plane crash that killed 49 people at Lexington Blue Grass Airport early Sunday morning brings them into sharp focus.
"We are definitely short staffed, no question," Rifas said. "Every facility in the country is short staffed."But the FAA is disagreeing on the short staffing issues. They recently said they were going to start hiring nearly 12,000 new controllers in the next ten years and are expected to hire nearly 1,000 new ones this year alone.
"Overall, across the country, we do not have a shortage of air-traffic controllers," Blakey said at a news conference Thursday in Louisville.
Blakey has been under pressure from Congress to cut costs but to hire more controllers. On Aug. 24, she reported to Congress that the FAA will hire 930 new controllers by October.
So what can be done to help solve a problem that both sides can not agree that even exists. Well short staffing is a concern. If someone is sick or has not had enough sleep it could place a ripple effect throughout the system at the local level. It would put more stress on the system of controllers. Simply put the FAA needs to stop cutting costs and invest more in controllers. Safety is the number one priority of both the FAA and the controllers. So lets invest in safety and put some money behind hiring more controllers, training them more and making sure that they are the best equipped to provide and maintain the world's safest system.Airport Business
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