Certified air traffic controller workforce grew by just 6 in the last year, union says

The nation’s understaffed and overworked air traffic controller workforce has grown by only six fully trained controllers over the last year, the workers’ union president told Congress. National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Rich Santa told a Senate subcommittee Thursday growth in the thousands is needed. The FAA’s controller ranks are about 3,600 short of the 14,000-plus controller staffing goal, he said. It would take more than a decade of hiring at maximum levels to catch up, he noted. “We are not healthier than we were last year, controller-wise,” Santa said. “I think FAA’s own numbers indicate we have potentially six more air traffic controllers than we had last year systemwide. That is not an expansive increase of what we need.” While The FAA did not refute the workforce grew by 6, it said in a statement the situation needs context. The FAA said it hired 1,500 controllers this year and is on pace to hire 1,800 in 2024. “We have 2,716 trainees making their way through the system right now. Most of the trainees are already partially certified on positions.” Nearly 1,000 of those trainees, the statement said, are already certified controllers who have moved from smaller facilities for training at a larger and busier sites – an 8% increase from 2022. Additionally, there are 4% more operational supervisors who can control traffic. “The certified professional controller number at one point in time does not paint a full picture,” the FAA said. ”The number of certified controllers will always fluctuate because controllers retire, resign, are promoted to supervisory positions, or transfer to other facilities and require retraining. So far this year, more than 340 certified controllers transferred to other facilities or positions and were reclassified as controllers in training.”<br/>