New
Controller Hires Outpace Retirements
The FAA is on track
to hire and train nearly 17,000 air traffic controllers over the next decade to
help handle the long-predicted retirements of veteran
controllers.
“We're on target, and
our newly hired controllers are highly motivated,” said acting Administrator
Robert Sturgell, announcing the release Tuesday of the 2008 Controller Workforce Plan, delivered annually to
Congress.
The FAA hired more
than 1,800 controllers last year and will hire nearly 1,900 in fiscal 2008. The
agency expects to finish the year with a controller workforce of 15,130, a net
increase of 256 from the previous year.
The updated workforce
plan highlights improvements in training methods which have lowered the training
time needed to become a fully certified controller from three to five years to
an average of two to three years, depending on the complexity of the
facility.
Training improvements
include installing a new En Route Training Simulation System simulator at the
FAA Academy in
Oklahoma
City and six new ERTSS
simulators in the field helps.
The FAA has also
awarded a contract to add six new tower simulators at the FAA Academy and 18 new tower
simulators at air traffic facilities throughout the nation.
To boost recruitment,
the FAA has implemented a number of initiatives, including nationwide
announcements, a bonus of up to $20,000 for eligible military and civilian hires
with previous controller experience, and participation in recruitment fairs
nationwide. The agency is also using retention incentives to keep veteran
controllers on the job longer.
The number of
colleges and universities accredited to teach air traffic control as part of a
college degree – the Collegiate Training Initiative schools – also grew by nine
last year to 23.
Additionally, the FAA
has used new pre-employment processing centers to provide one-stop shopping for
invited controller candidates, allowing them to have final interviews and
medical and security screenings in the same location on the same
day.
More than 800
controllers retired in 2007, part of the long-expected retirement wave of
controllers who were hired after the 1981 PATCO strike. However, more than 100
retired controllers became contract training instructors in
2007.
“Their expertise is
now being used to train the next generation of controllers,” the report
noted.
The FAA began
submitting a workforce plan to Congress in 2004 outlining its plans to recruit,
hire and train new controllers to meet the increasing number of
retirements.
The FAA also has a new Web site for those who want to learn how to become an air
traffic controller.
Controllers and FAA Ink Safety
Reporting Agreement
A new flight safety
program will promote a voluntary, cooperative and non-punitive environment for
FAA employees to report concerns. The FAA and the National Air Traffic
Controllers Association signed a memorandum of understanding March 27
establishing the Air Traffic Safety Action Program.
ATSAP will begin at
targeted facilities this spring and may be expanded if the program is deemed
successful after a comprehensive evaluation. Plans are also being made to expand
similar reporting to airway transportation system specialists later this
year.
“I've been a big
proponent of these types of [reporting] systems,” said FAA acting Administrator
Bobby Sturgell. “They play a significant role in the safety the agency has been
able to maintain.”
The agreement was the
culmination of four years of negotiations between the FAA and the controllers
union, and mirrors a system that 66 air carriers use to encourage voluntary
reporting for pilots, dispatchers, flight attendants and
mechanics.
NATCA President Pat
Forrey expressed his support for the program in a joint press release with the
FAA, saying safety would be enhanced through employees promptly identifying and
correcting safety hazards in a systematic approach.
“This type of
program, which is widely used with the airlines and pilots, is essential to
encourage employees to point out mistakes made in order to study why they occur
and to develop solutions to enhance safety,” Forrey said.
Voluntary safety
reporting can be a valuable source of additional information which can be used
to target safety risks that existing audits, inspections and automated tools may
not identify.
Reports that involve
criminal activity, substance abuse, controlled substances, alcohol or
intentional falsification are not covered under ATSAP and can be referred to an
appropriate FAA office for further handing and enforcement.
Airports to Get Runway Warning
Lights
A new runway safety
system that works like a stop light is being tested and may be in 20 airports in
a few years, acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell said at a press conference last
week.
Runway Status Lights,
currently being tested at San
Diego’s Lindberg Field and
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, is a warning system with red lights
embedded into the pavement and airfield lighting infrastructure that turn on
when it is not safe for pilots to cross or initiate takeoff on a
runway.
It uses information
from approach and ground surveillance systems like ASDE-X to automatically turn
lights on and off depending on the surface traffic situation. Runway entrance
lights illuminate if the runway is unsafe for entry or crossing, and takeoff
hold lights turn on if the runway is unsafe for departure.
The FAA expects to
commit approximately $300 million over a 20-year period to deploy, operate and
maintain Runway Status Lights at a yet-to-be-determined 20
airports.
