While staffing challenges still continue to impact travel and near misses in the aviation sector raise safety concerns, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken steps to mitigate the problems.
The Administration has confirmed that it has met its target of hiring an additional 1,500 air traffic controllers by the end of September this year. Beyond this, the target is to hire an additional 1,800 air traffic controllers next year for which the Transport Department has submitted a request for US$117 million to cover the cost. Over 12,000 applications were received for the new positions.
The FAA has recently awarded US$121 million to airports to reduce the risk of runway incursions after a noticeable rise in near misses. Improvements will be made to lighting as well as the reconfiguration of taxiways.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA are investigating an August 11, near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a Cessna business jet in San Diego. The NTSB is investigating seven runway incursion events since January, including the San Diego incident.
The FAA said on Thursday it currently has 10,700 certified controllers, up slightly from 10,578 in 2022, according to the OIG report, which was virtually the same as in 2021 and down 10% from 2012. The FAA closed its academy for six months in 2020 due to COVID-19 and paused on-the-job training at facilities for almost two years, the agency said. Managers told auditors that ATC facilities are not adequately staffed, and many have too few supervisors. At multiple facilities, controllers are working mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks to cover staff shortages. (£1.00 = US$1.27 at time of publication).
