Air traffic controller shortage could last onto the 2030s

Business as usual at the FAA isn’t enough to dig out of the national air traffic controller shortage affecting flights across the US. A new report from the FAA found that at current hiring and training levels, the agency will only have roughly 200 more air traffic controllers in 2032 than it does today. Hiring targets call for 1,500 new controllers this year and another 1,800 in 2024. But that will barely make for retirements and others leaving the job. It “does not adequately satisfy system needs with regard to complexity, growth, and trajectory,” the report found. The shortage contribute to aviation safety concerns, as does increases in absenteeism and fatigue related to additional overtime among certified controllers. That’s all bad news for airlines and air travelers. The shortage, which the report found has been building for years, came to a head this past summer when the FAA admitted that it was short roughly 3,000 controllers nationally. The situation was more pronounced in the New York area where staffing was roughly 54% of target levels. The agency was forced to allow airlines to cut the number of flights through JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports by up to 10%. But even with the flight reductions, there were numerous flight delays and cancellations at the three New York airports. United Airlines suffered a significant disruption at Newark airport that rippled out across its national network in the weeks leading up to the July Fourth holiday, and forced it to shrink its hub there. And JetBlue Airways faced more than 30 straight days of disruptions at its JFK hub in June and July.<br/>