Cited After Busting Minimum Spacing Requirements

Errors that led to improper separation between three aircraft landing at Memphis International Airport earlier this month have resulted in the decertification of two air traffic controllers, and a supervisor.

FAA spokesman Kathleen Bergen told Memphis' commercialappeal.com decertification is designed to identify where an employee needs retraining in a particular area. It is not considered disciplinary action.

According to the news story, the supervisor has been placed on administrative duty... while the controllers face as much as 10 hours retraining, after which they will be required to recertify.

The issue concerns the FAA rule requiring a five-mile separation between large and small jets to avoid wake-turbulence conflicts. In two incidents on February 13, this distance was shortened to a 4.85 and 4.86 mile separation, after a FedEx pilot had to reduce his speed twice before attempting a landing due to a reported auto-throttle problem.

The second time the speed was reduced, it incurred another FAA violation -- by shortening the mandatory 1.5-mile lateral distance required between aircraft landing on adjacent runways. The FAA considered the loss of separation minor.

Memphis controllers maintain the problem lies not with training, but with staffing levels. Controllers are required to work overtime to cover shifts, and that increases the possibility of errors caused by exhaustion.

"Last August, we had 64 fully certified controllers," said Pete Sufka, local president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "Come this September, will be down to 52 or 53."

He blames the attrition on retirements, and controllers leaving for bigger airports.

"Memphis has always been a steppingstone to higher-level facilities because during our peaks, we work the same level of traffic you have in Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago," he said.

The FAA imposed new pay changes last year, and controllers coming to Memphis from smaller systems don't qualify for raises in pay.

"We negotiated with the union for nine months and came to agreements on almost all the issues except for pay and benefits," said Laura Brown, FAA spokeswoman.

The FAA also repeated its claim it has a pool of "more than 2,000 controllers waiting to be hired."

"We are having absolutely no trouble attracting controllers," Brown said. "The reason is that while they are being trained in their first year, they're making close to $50,000. After five years, they're making more than $90,000."

FMI: www.natca.org, www.faa.gov