FAA to Hire 15,000 Controllers over 10 Years

Air traffic controller staffing levels at Long Island MacArthur Airport could drop below current figures under a proposed national plan for hiring that union officials said could jeopardize safety.

The Federal Aviation Administration yesterday announced that it would hire some 15,000 new air traffic controllers over the next decade as part of a program to replenish personnel as current workers retire. Read the plan.

Officials said that they would bring on 1,400 new controllers each year and eventually exceed by 189 the number of controllers on staff last year. But at MacArthur Airport, which had 19 controllers, staffing will range between 13 and 15 controllers. That could mean no new hires for several years.

"That staffing plan is an abomination," said Phil Barbarello, vice president of the controllers' union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "One third of the controllers [nationally] that exist today will be gone and we can't even staff it today. I think their plan is based totally on their budget and has nothing to do with safety."

FAA Deputy Administrator Bobby Sturgell outlined the plan in a telephone conference with journalists. "We've got enough controllers in the pipeline and we're going to make sure it stays that way," he said.

The bulk of new hires will likely come from programs that the FAA has used in the past, including recruitment efforts aimed at colleges and universities, veterans and retired military controllers, Sturgell said.

In a lengthy report outlining the plan, FAA officials said LaGuardia and Kennedy would also be affected. Review the FAA's presentation.

At LaGuardia, which had 31 controllers at the end of September, officials said there will be an established staffing level between 28 and 34 controllers. Kennedy, which had 32 at the end of September, will also range from 28 to 34 controllers. In a news release, the FAA said staffing was determined by many factors, such as past performance, the performance of similar air traffic facilities, productivity improvements, and National Science Academy guidelines.

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