Editorial: Air controllers stretched thin

Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007 | 7:32 a.m.

The number of air traffic controllers at McCarran International Airport is approaching bare minimum, and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., is worried that the Federal Aviation Administration isn't working hard enough to add more staff.

At a press conference on Jan. 8, in which she was joined by members of the air traffic controllers union, Berkley released the text of a letter she sent to the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Marion Blakey.

The letter noted negotiations in 2003 between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, in which a total of 56 air traffic controllers were authorized for McCarran. Currently, the airport has just 34 fully certified controllers, even though domestic air travel alone has increased 25 percent since 2003, the letter stated.

Berkley noted McCarran's "remarkable record of passenger safety," but added that "we risk a serious erosion of the margin of safety unless action is taken by the FAA to address the staffing issue."

"These guys have been working 10-hour days, six days a week. I don't want them to be tired when safety of the flying public is at stake," Berkley said at the press conference.

In response to Berkley, the FAA's Blakey said that her administration is at an impasse with the controllers union on a new contract, and that "staffing levels in the past were negotiated levels that were not based on actual traffic levels."

In our view, Berkley is right that 34 air traffic controllers are not enough for McCarran, which is the nation's fifth-largest airport. The FAA should get back to the bargaining table and take a hard look at those "actual traffic levels." A workload that requires controllers to consistently work overtime raises the only issue that matters -safety.