“This is unacceptable. U.S. airlines, our pilots, flight attendants, technicians, and ground employees will never compromise on safety. Congress must do the same,” the letter said.
The Air Traffic Organization is an arm of the FAA, which is responsible for providing safe and efficient air navigation services in the United States and large portions of its surrounding oceans.
At present, outdated technology and equipment from the 1980s are being used, with 92 percent of the FAA’s Facilities and Equipment budget going into maintaining these “outdated systems,” the CEOs wrote, adding that air traffic controllers should not be operating with “corroded copper wiring, floppy disks, and physical strips of paper with flight numbers.”
“From the January 2023 NOTAM failure to recent outages causing disruptions in Newark, Americans are feeling the impact beyond delayed and cancelled flights.”
In the letter, the CEOs said their airlines were being forced to “fly fewer flights in busy areas like the New York City airspace to accommodate the air traffic controller shortage.”
“This means fewer flight choices for consumers. Understandably, the FAA slows down and spaces out the number of flights in congested airspace to maintain an incredible high-level of safety—however that negatively impacts efficiency, on-time performance, and the customer experience,” they said.
The letter underscored Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s announcement earlier this month about a comprehensive plan to make investments in the national airspace.
“Now, it’s time for Congress to do its part and provide much-needed resources and turn the plan into reality,” it added.
Signatories of the letter include CEOs of the Alaska Air Group, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines.
Revamping Air Traffic Control
The Trump administration has committed to tackling the challenges faced by America’s air traffic control system.Instead of the regular eight-step process, prospective candidates would only go through five steps, a decision that cuts down over four months from the hiring process.
The FAA has a shortage of roughly 3,500 fully certified air traffic controllers compared to its targeted staffing levels. The current number of controllers is roughly 10 percent lower than in 2012.
“This staffing shortage has been a known challenge for over a decade, and this administration is committed to solving it,” Duffy said at the time.
The incentives are aimed at encouraging experienced personnel to remain in the field, while attracting new candidates.
Incentives include a $5,000 bonus for graduates from the FAA Academy who finish their initial qualification training. Those who agree to work at hard-to-staff facilities would be eligible for an extra $10,000 bonus.
“Today’s actions will supercharge the air traffic controller workforce from both the retention and hiring side of the equation—bringing us one step closer to reversing decades of staffing declines,” Duffy said.
