The four locations, among the most congested in the nation, now have a staffing emergency, says Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
Air Traffic Controllers in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Southern California have declared a staffing emergency. A staffing emergency means that controllers do not have enough trained and experienced personnel on the ground to safely handle the volume of traffic in the air and at major airports.
Mr. Forrey continues, ''They are being asked to handle so much volume with so little rest and with fewer eyes and ears that they are fatigued, and when you are fatigued you make mistakes.''
The United States Transportation Department said it would investigate the working conditions of Chicago area air traffic controllers amid increasing errors. The department’s Office of the Inspector General announced the audit after a request by Senator Durbin (D) of Illinois.
Currently Air Traffic Controllers are working under an imposed contract. They have been doing so for nearly 500 days now. The House passed a bill that would require the federal government to reopen negotiations; however, the Senate has not passed their version of the bill. The Bush administration does not want to reopen the contract.
In 2007, the FAA estimated that 643 controllers would retire. Actual numbers place fiscal 2007 retirement numbers at 828, nearly 30 percent more than what was estimated. Fiscal 2008 estimated retirement numbers are being placed at just 695, but so far from October 2007, the beginning of the federal government’s fiscal year, 357 air traffic controllers have retired and nearly 500 have informed the union that the plan on retiring by February 2, 2008.
Mr. Forrey believes reopening the contract negotiations would slow the retirements, but reopening the contract seems unlikely at this point.
Issues at the four locations:
Atlanta: at the nation’s busiest airport, over 50 percent of controllers regularly work 6 days a week.
Chicago: this airport has the second highest near-collisions on runways between 2001 and 2006.
New York: At Kennedy International tower, the number of fully trained controllers dropped 42 percent since 2001. Of the 22 remaining, one-third must retire during this calendar year and 12 could do so. During that period, daily operations rose from 1,000 to 1,400 last year.
Southern California: The Terminal Radar Approach Control Center north of San Diego is the nation's busiest. It lost 40 percent of its fully certified controllers since 2004.
New York Times
NATCA.org Press Release
Agency to Investigate Working Conditions-- NY Times
Related Reading:
A Few Words from Former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall
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