By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Department said on Thursday that it is taking steps to retain and recruit more air traffic controllers to address a significant staffing shortage.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which said in March it planned to hire 2,000 air traffic controller trainees this year, said it will offer retirement-eligible controllers who are under the mandatory retirement age of 56 a lump sum payment of 20% of their basic pay for each year they continue to work.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Thursday he was aiming to unveil his plan next week to ask Congress for billions of dollars to reform the nation’s crumbling air traffic control infrastructure.
A U.S. House committee on Wednesday approved $12.5 billion through 2029 as a “downpayment” to address issues.
Duffy, who previously said he would ask for “tens of billions” in funding, on Thursday cited a series of recent issues including serious delays in Newark due to equipment failures and staffing issues.
“You are starting to see cracks in the system and you can see them in different locations,” Duffy said. “It’s our job – all of us working together – to not wait until there’s a disaster.”
Calls to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system intensified after a mid-air collision on January 29 between a U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane and other serious safety incidents including a near miss involving a Delta plane and several military jets.
The FAA also plans to take steps to improve the retention of new air traffic controller trainees and provide financial incentives to graduates and new hires for completing initial training milestones, including $5,000 awards for academy graduates completing initial qualification training.
A persistent shortage of controllers has delayed flights and many are working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks. The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. Duffy hopes to address that shortfall within three to four years.
Duffy said the dropout rate for controller trainees is about 35%. They will also give bonuses for hard to staff locations.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that IBM or Raytheon could get a contract to modernize air traffic control.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
