December 4, 2023
When it comes to air travel in this country – the FAA put up a little warning flag that you need to know about. It’s little warning right now but it could very easily turn into a big glaring red flag if congress doesn’t get its act together.
First – I want to be very clear – this new government report says every day in this country the FAA safely facilitates the travel of almost three million airline passengers across more than 29 million square miles of airspace on more than 45,000 flights a day while employing 35,000 air traffic controllers and staff to keep aircraft moving safely and efficiently 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. Air travel in the United States is safe.
However, the air traffic control system is facing several major problems including short staffing, outdated technology and chronic underfunding that could – in the future — put that safe record in jeopardy.
That’s according to the new national airspace system safety review team report. It’s 52 pages and says at this point American airspace is safe but the FAA’s problems are chipping away at the safety protections that have been in place for decades and the problems are unsustainable over the long-term.
Now—this report didn’t come out of nowhere, the FAA commissioned the report after all those near misses on runways across the country that we were talking about a lot earlier this year. So – the national airspace system safety review team dug around and found the problems weren’t as simple as someone not paying attention. The issues are much bigger than that.
The report found a lot of the problems stem from lack of staffing and lack of staffing for the most part is a result of lack of funding. Funding that Congress has to approve. And that lack of staffing goes for lots of positions at the airport – but one in particular caught my eye. There are too few air traffic controllers, who are exhausted, doing too much of the work and there aren’t enough new air traffic controllers in the pipeline to fill the vacancies and replace those who retire. Plus – congress hasn’t allocated enough money to hire the amount of people the f-a-a needs to continue to safely control all those 45,000 flights a day and continue to grow with the airlines when they add more flights. The report says right now – air traffic controllers are doing a great job managing all these challenges – but they can’t hold this thing together like this forever.
Like I said – this report shines a light on lots of issues besides staffing that could soon cause problems for the f-a-a including, crumbling airport infrastructure, fractured systems and outdated technology. It gives all kinds of recommendations for how to fix those things but in the end it all boils down to money. Money that Congress has to approve. And yes it’s true Congress over the years has drastically increased funding for the FAA, the report says that money usually goes to infrastructure not directly to the safety of air traffic operations. The report sums it up by saying “at current funding levels, the FAA has insufficient resources to carry out its portfolio of responsibilities.” It goes on to say “underfunding…introduces risk into the system.”
The report takes a swipe at congress and its inability to properly fund the government – you know all these government shutdown threats I keep reporting on. The report says congressional gridlock “undermines the FAA’s ability to effectively perform is mission.”
Read the air traffic control safety report here.
