The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has failed over four years to fill gaps in how it trains its air traffic controllers and is placing greater numbers of inexperienced personnel at key facilities, a government watchdog said on Tuesday.
A report by the Transportation Department Inspector General found the number of veteran controllers transferring from quieter centres to busier ones dropped by a third between April 2004 and December 2008.
This departure from past practice is compounded by the acceleration of controller retirements.
"As a result, some facilities that previously relied exclusively on transferring veteran controllers to fill vacancies have been forced to redesign their training programs to accommodate the growing numbers of inexperienced controllers," according to the report by Inspector General Calvin Scovel.
"Some stakeholders also have expressed concerns over the fact that many (newly hired) controllers are now being placed directly at busy, higher-level facilities with no prior experience," Scovel's investigators concluded.
The FAA said there have been times over many years when the percentage of controllers in training has gone up. "We've been able to maintain a safe system," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.
It can take up to three years to fully train an air traffic controller. Brown noted that controllers who are certified at a particular job even though they have not completed all training requirements can staff that position independently.
FAA proposed in 2004 to strengthen controller training protocols for staffing and to hold managers accountable for achieving those goals.
"FAA never issued this policy," the report found.
The findings come ahead of a hearing on Wednesday in the US House of Representatives on controller staffing.
Scovel's report backs some complaints by the union representing air traffic controllers, which has long questioned FAA's handling of growing controller retirements. The report said training quality varied depending on the location.
"We found similar problems in 2004," the report said. "Some facilities are now struggling to meet training demands."
FAA plans to hire roughly 17,000 controllers through 2017.
The quickening pace of controller retirements is a direct result of the mass firing of striking controllers in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan for ignoring his back-to-work order.
After the 1981 strike, thousands of controllers were hired over a short time period and many of them are now becoming eligible for retirement.
As of December 2007, newly hired controllers made up more than 25% of overall staff, up 15% from four years ago. FAA plans to increase this number to 30% and says each facility can handle up to 35%.
However, the report found that 70 centres, more than 22% of facilities nationwide, exceeded the 35% threshold at the end of 2007. Busy facilities in Oakland and Las Vegas were singled out in the report.
Brown said the FAA would consider changes recommended in the report but noted the agency has already started to attract more veteran controllers to busy centres, including Atlanta and Chicago.
By John Crawley, Reuters
