FAA facing shortage of air traffic controllers

The Federal Aviation Administration will need to hire thousands more air traffic controllers over the next decade to meet increases in air traffic and a surge in retirements, according to a new report from the General Accounting Office.

By 2010, about half of the FAA's frontline controller workforce-about 15,000 employees-will leave the agency, mainly through retirement. Many of the agency's controllers were hired over a three-year period in the early 1980s, after thousands of controllers were fired after going on strike. As a result, FAA is facing a wave of departures.

"The potential for retirement among frontline supervisors and controllers at some of FAA's busiest facilities is high," said the report, "Air Traffic Control: FAA Needs to Better Prepare for Impending Wave of Controller Attrition" (GAO-02-591). The report also concluded that the agency would need to hire 2,000 additional controllers by 2010 because of an increase in air traffic. The 2,000 controllers would be in addition to any employees hired to replace retirees, according to GAO.

GAO found that the FAA does not have adequate planning in place for hiring replacements and recommended that the agency:

• Identify the timing for the new hires so that all air traffic facilities have adequate coverage.
• Evaluate screening tests for air traffic controllers to ensure the right candidates are being hired.
• Ensure FAA air traffic training facilities and programs are prepared for a surge of new controllers.

FAA officials told GAO they would consider the recommendations in workforce planning, but noted that there is "nothing to indicate that [controllers'] successful performance will not continue in the future."