Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004 | 8:33 a.m.
Source: Federal Aviation Administration
"We have people retiring now, and we need to hire more controllers now," said Mark Sherry, who represents the Western Region of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "The FAA is finally agreeing with us that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, but we need more hires now."
Union officials say that fewer people watching over the airspace could result in flight delays when aircraft traffic gets to the point where it is too much for controllers.
The FAA's plan, submitted to Congress on Monday, calls for hiring 12,500 new controllers to replace many of the 12,000 controllers who were hired by President Reagan during the controller strike in 1981.
Currently there are 14,816 controllers nationwide, and 73 percent of those workers will become eligible to retire over the next 10 years. Over 11,000 controllers are expected to retire or leave the work force over the next 10 years, said Del Meadows, air traffic hub manager for McCarran International Airport said.
The control tower at McCarran currently has 44 controllers, and is authorized to have 47. North Las Vegas Airport is authorized 15 controllers and has a full contingent.
The Las Vegas Terminal Radar Approach, which assumes control of aircraft from McCarran and North Las Vegas after planes take off, is authorized to have 56 controllers, and currently has 48.
One of the controllers at radar approach is scheduled to retire in 2005, and two more will become eligible for retirement next year. By 2009 four more controllers in Las Vegas will become eligible for retirement, Meadows said.
When Meadows makes monthly schedules for controllers he usually has to include mandatory overtime in order to keep up with air traffic volume, but said that staffing at McCarran is adequate for controllers to do their jobs.
"Part of the difficulty in filling controller jobs is that the pool for larger airports comes from lower levels, and even if we have people selected they may not be able to move until a replacement is available," Meadows said.
Donn Walker, an FAA spokesman, said that the national plan is designed to address the retirements while at the same time providing a good balance of new controllers and experienced controllers.
"We do not agree with the union that this is in a crisis stage," Walker said at a press conference Tuesday at McCarran International Airport. "The retirements are something that is occurring down the line, and this plan is intended to address that."
The FAA has been authorized to hire 435 new controllers in 2005, and the plan calls for more than 1,000 hires each of the next nine years.
It can take between three to five years for a controller to become proficient enough to handle live aircraft traffic, and longer for a controller to develop the skills necessary to work traffic at the nation's busier airports like McCarran. Controllers are paid an average annual salary of $105,000, but the pay varies greatly depending on where the controller is working, Walker said.
Sherry, and other officials with the controllers union, say more controllers are needed in 2005 or else retirements could cause flight delays.
Walker cautioned that just because a controller reaches retirement eligibility doesn't mean that they will retire right away.
"The average controller will work another five years after reaching retirement eligibility," Walker said.
Only about 20 percent retire immediately upon reaching eligibility, which comes at age 50 with 20 years of working live airline traffic or at any age with 25 years of working live traffic, Meadows said.
The new plan also calls for one year waivers that would allow controllers over the mandatory retirement age of 56 to continue working until they are 61 if they meet requirements every year.
The FAA's hiring plan focuses on the use of technology, such as simulators, and a new screening test to help shorten the time it takes to turn out a trained controller to two to three years.
In the past the FAA spent on average about $10,000 per recruit to send a controller applicant through a two-month course at the agency's training center in Oklahoma City. About 57 percent of those applicants passed the course and moved on to other training to become controllers, Meadows said.
The new plan calls for applicants to take an eight-hour test, at a cost to the agency of about $800 per applicant, before they are put through the training process. About 95 percent of those who pass the test continue on to train and become controllers, Meadows said.
This speeding up of the training process at a lesser cost won't sacrifice public safety, Meadows said.
"The base lines that we've always had for achieving certification are not changing," said Meadows. "Safety is the No. 1 goal of the agency. This is the safest time in aviation history with air traffic controllers helping with tens of millions of takeoffs and landings every year."
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