Terms Controller Retirements "An Attrition Tsunami"
Coming off the Tuesday report from DOT's inspector
general, NATCA president Patrick Forrey had a
Wednesday appointment to speak in Congress. In remarks to the House
Subcommittee on Aviation, Forrey appeared to recognize the rhetoric
in the union's fight with the FAA may be obscuring an important
fact.
He prefaced his discussion of the FAA's failure to address
controller attrition with the comment, "...before I get to that
portion of my testimony, I wanted to tell the Subcommittee that the
men and women I represent are among the most dedicated and
professional employees found in government. I worry that sometimes,
that fact might get lost on Members of the Subcommittee, because of
the focus on our Labor dispute with the Agency."
Forrey then plunged into statistics in support of a controller
shortage he warns creates an unacceptable compromise to safety. He
noted that while the FAA brags of retaining 3450 trainees between
fiscal 2005 and the end of fiscal 2007, only 538 have been fully
certified, or about 16 percent.
The NATCA chief says the FAA failed to plan for the retirement
wave by hiring only 13 controllers in 2004, then, when contract
talks collapsed in 2006, followed up with imposed work rules he
blames for, quote - "...an attrition tsunami that has seen nearly
2,700 controllers and trainees leave the system since."
Forrey told lawmakers it's no coincidence that delays, near
misses, and runway incursions have all increased as the number of
controllers has diminished. He proposed four steps to stem what he
calls a crisis.
"First, the FAA and NATCA must return to the bargaining table to
complete contract negotiations," Forrey said. "Doing so will help
to retain the veteran controllers... responsible for on-the-job
training that turns a trainee into a certified controller...their
retention is essential to maintaining safe operation of the
system.
"Second, the FAA must work with NATCA and the National Academy
of Sciences, or another independent third party, to not only
re-establish scientifically-based staffing ranges for each
facility, but also to establish concrete limits on trainee
ratios...
"Third, standardized training must continue to be the
foundation... The FAA must stop issuing blanket waivers on training
to chronically understaffed facilities.
"Finally, in order to avoid such crises in the future, the FAA
must work collaboratively and cooperatively with NATCA, on all
issues affecting air traffic controllers or their operations."