Bipartisan Group Urges ATC New-Hire Funding | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Sat, Jul 03, 2004

Bipartisan Group Urges ATC New-Hire Funding

Senators urging Congress to fund slots for more controllers

A bipartisan group of seven US senators have united to urge Congress to authorize $14 million in funding for fiscal year 2005 to allow the FAA to hire more air traffic controllers. The senators, all members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the FAA's budget, have asked the subcommittee's chairman and ranking member, Richard Shelby, R-AL and Patty Murray, D-WA, respectively, to provide the funding due to concerns over projected retirements among the existing controller workforce.

GovExec.Com reported that the subcommittee members have asked that the funding be provided as part of the Fiscal Year 2005 Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill.

The group has expressed its concerns based on the fact that nearly 9,000 controllers hired in the four years after former President Reagan dismissed the striking PATCO controllers are now nearing retirement age. In fact, FAA estimates point to retirement of nearly half the controller workforce over the next nine years or so.

Of particular concern is the fact that it takes quite a long time to train new controllers; from two to four years, according to the GAO. In some cases, the training can take as long as seven years, depending on the tasks that the controller undertakes, and the locations at which they will serve. Last year, the FAA requested $14 million in FY 2004 funds to begin the process of hiring new controllers. The request was denied, and the FAA did not repeat the request for FY 2005.

"The FAA requested zero dollars for this," said Doug Church, media relations manager for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "So we took it upon ourselves to go to Congress and try to get their support. And we did."

In the letter, Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Harry Reid, D-Nev., Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Kit Bond, R-Mo., Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said they are "all too aware of the budget constraints facing this Congress," but they also emphasized that a shortage of controllers could cause major inconveniences for travellers, not to mention possible safety concerns.

Sen. DeWine "sees it as a safety issue," said Amanda Flaig, his spokeswoman. "With [the controllers] retiring at a rate faster than they're being hired... it will put a strain on the existing workforce."  Sen. Shelby believes the FAA must ensure that "the safest air traffic control system in the world" stays that way, said spokeswoman Virginia Davis.

FMI: www.house.gov, www.senate.gov, www.natca.org

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC