The View From the Executive Vice President
Paul Rinaldi
For the recent 51st annual Air Traffic Control Association Conference, I was asked to speak on the Federal Aviation Administration’s greatest strengths, weaknesses and challenges. What is the FAA’s greatest strength? Its workforce. The safety of the air traffic control system depends upon the dedication, teamwork and flexibility of the highly trained, highly skilled men and women who work the world’s best, most efficient and safest system.
Our new leaders at NATCA and our new executive board members are big supporters of new technology and, for many years, under former Administrator Jane Garvey, we worked together and took great pride in helping to design, test and implement the equipment, software and radar systems that are in the facilities today. NATCA and our controllers want to be on the front end again as the next generation of air traffic control equipment emerges. It just makes sense. How do you develop air traffic control equipment without controllers?
While we have our differences with Administrator Marion Blakey, we agree that the next generation of air traffic control equipment will increase the safety and efficiency of the system. However, we will always have a need for air traffic controllers. Let us not forget what happened after the attacks of 9/11, when controllers set aside the training manuals and the books, because we never planned for anything like that. There was no computer or technology that could help us. It was the sheer will of the men and women who worked that day to land those planes as soon as possible.
Additionally, there will never be a next generation air traffic control system immune to the headaches of convective weather. Controllers rise to overcome astronomical challenges associated with weather events. It doesn’t have to be a thunderstorm. You take high winds, offset all the runways and the system just slows down. There will never be a substitute for the flexibility and determination of our highly skilled controllers. On a daily basis, we go above and beyond, incredible lengths, to keep this system the world’s safest and most efficient, paralleled by nobody or no other.
In what areas can the FAA improve? The FAA has many challenges in front of it, the biggest being the staffing crisis. Air traffic control facilities around the country have witnessed remarkable growth in traffic since 9/11, with the regional jets taking over lots of routes and the very light jets coming on line very soon. But controller staffing has not kept pace. Rather, it’s been reduced. Air traffic controllers not only have to do their jobs without making mistakes, they have to maintain vigilance and try to prevent others’ mistakes from becoming accidents. If there aren't enough controllers to do this, they cannot maintain the safety margin.
Throughout our air traffic system, it is the built-in redundancies of safety that make us the best. The facts are simple. The FAA has lost 1,000 more controllers than it has hired in the past three years, which represents roughly seven percent of the total workforce. By the end of next year, one in four controllers – roughly 3,600 – will be eligible to retire. We all know the difficulty that comes with making statistical forecasts. But in fiscal year 2005, the FAA announced that it had underestimated the number of controllers by 30 percent. In FY2006, the agency underestimated retirements by 50 percent.
The concern for us is obvious: The agency cannot get ahead of the retirement crisis. A serious number of qualified applicants are turning down the job because of the work rules imposed on Sept. 3. With the reduction of 30 percent of their starting pay and their actual pay down the line, these applicants are simply finding employment elsewhere.
What recommendations can I give the agency for improving? I just touched on the imposed work rules of Sept. 3. NATCA will never recognize these imposed work rules as a contract. They were not negotiated. They were not ratified. They are poisoning our work environment and it’s a huge distraction for safety. It has resulted in an understaffed and under-rested workforce, which is also losing its enthusiasm and pride for its profession and is gaining contempt for its employer.
Under the new imposed work rules, controllers cannot call in sick for minor inconveniences. So if you have diarrhea, or if you are throwing up, it’s a minor inconvenience to the FAA and you still must come to work and work your airplanes. They can’t call in sick to get additional rest. There are no restrictions to give controllers a break after two hours on position. There’s no stability in air traffic control schedules and there’s no guaranteed vacation leave.
All of this is affecting the performance and the safety of the system. Whether we want to or not, we must deal with these issues now before they have lasting effects on the future of the system. Assuming we ever see labor peace and a properly-staffed system, we will be able to look to the efforts to modernize the air traffic control system. And we want to be part of that.
