US air controller union chief says FAA staffing not keeping up

The president of a union representing federal air traffic controllers said Tuesday the US FAA needs to do a better job of ensuring adequate staffing to oversee the nation's airspace. Rich Santa, who heads the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the FAA had over 15,000 total controllers in 2011, including over 11,750 fully certified controllers, but at the start of 2022 "there were more than 1,000 fewer (certified controllers) and 1,500 fewer total controllers on-board." Santa said at a speech in Washington "Unfortunately, FAA staffing is not keeping up with attrition.... There should be 1,000 more controllers, not 1,000 fewer, than we had a decade ago." Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen told Reuters last week the FAA "on track to hire 1,000 controllers this year." For 1,500 open positions, the FAA accepted 57,956 applications for review, he added. Federal air traffic controllers generally work in control towers, approach control facilities, or route centers, and are essential for coordinating aircraft traffic between the nation's airports. US airlines have placed blame for a significant part of summer travel disruptions impacting tens of thousands of flights on a lack of air traffic control staffing. The FAA said Tuesday "airlines’ data show that the vast majority of delays are not due to air traffic controller staffing. Where demand has increased, the FAA is adding additional controllers," it added, while highlighting training backlogs caused by COVID-19.<br/>