Good day all. For a good 10+ years, the United states has been suffering a shortage of qualified Air Traffic Controllers. The main reason for this can be laid at the feet of the Democrat Party, starting with Barack Obama.
This shortage escalated under the Biden Maladministration. The reason for this was simple. Woke policies and DEI HR Managers looking at people’s skin color, gender, and other things instead of finding the best people to do the job. Now the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost.
Shortly after President Trump took office, an Army helicopter collided with an airliner in Washington DC killing everyone on the two aircraft. It has since come out that the control tower was operating shorthanded. Other issues are also cropping up on the competence of many recent hires and the technological infrastructure. This has led Sean Duffy, the current Secretary of Transportation to offer ATC’s (Air Traffic Controllers), a major bonus to delay their retirements. Here are the details from Fox Business News:
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said a key to alleviating the shortage of air traffic workers is offering retirees a bonus to incentivize them to stay in the workforce longer. In an interview with CBS News, Duffy said that it is going to take time to boost the air traffic controller workforce, but a key piece in doing so is keeping the more experienced controllers in the field longer.
“I think what is key, we have offered a bonus to air traffic controllers who are eligible to retire. We are going to pay them 20% bonus on their salary to stay longer. Don’t retire,” Duffy continued. “So as we bring more air traffic controllers in, and keep the older, experienced controllers, we’re going to be able to make up that difference.”
One of the advantages of the older ATC’s is their experience. They can help mentor the new people and help them get up to speed. It will also help alleviate the shortages until new people can be recruited and trained up.
However, Duffy noted that it will take months, if not years, to resolve the shortage.
As I understand it, it takes a good year for a candidate to be trained up and then there will be another year or two getting their feet under them. This is where the problems arise.
The air traffic control system has been under immense pressure for years given the persisting staffing shortages, outdated technology and underinvestment in critical infrastructure.
It’s worse then just the ancient systems in place and the critical lack of trained personnel. I’ve read stories of people who applied to the ATC schools and once they completed their classes and applied to the DOT. Were rejected.
Why?
The short answer is that they were white males. (There were also some white females that were passed over) Instead, DEI reared it’s ugly head and only accepted people that met the DEI standards. These were also people who scored significantly lower and the tests ATC school grads take to be hired by the DOT.
Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was installing more Tower Simulation Systems across the nation so it could certify air traffic controllers faster while reducing costs. These systems allow controllers to train for complex airport configurations, develop scenarios that address safety trends, practice runway crossing coordination and rehearse phraseology, according to the FAA.
One of the recent issues we’ve been seeing of late are planes being steered onto the same runways at the same time. We have seen planes abort takeoffs and landings when the flight crews saw another plan crossing the active runway and other planes, that had been told to cross the runways, spotting an oncoming plane and going to full throttle on the ground to get clear.
This is in addition to other steps Duffy said he is taking to accelerate hiring in the field. For one, he is trying to expand opportunities for veteran military controllers, expanding the list of qualified facilities and offering financial incentives to graduates and new hires who have reached key training milestones.
The military ATC’s, as I understand it, go through the same basic classes that the civilians do. (I may be mistaken here) They are also trained to deal with stress levels that civilian ATC’s don’t, such as coming under attack and having to get planes in and out at a very high rate. (Think surging bombers when nuclear missiles are inbound) They shouldn’t have that much of a problem retraining and requalifing.
The FAA also plans to reward academy graduates who are assigned to hard-to-staff facilities and reduce wait times for top candidates, who in some cases are waiting at least a year, for routine medical and security clearances.
Getting people into airports and locations that aren’t “Prestigious” is always an issue. I’m thinking places like Alaska and the middle of nowhere Montana for instance. The other issues, medical and security clearances? The medical clearance should take a week at worst. The security clearance process should begin when people apply and are accepted to the ATC programs.
It is also expanding the number of instructors and establishing a Learning Center at the Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City. Duffy also streamlined hiring by changing the old eight-step hiring process at the FAA to a five-step process.
These changes are all things that could have and should have been done four years ago. Why wasn’t it. Consider who was the Secretary of Transportation under the Biden Maladministration.
It’s going to take several years to ramp up the staffing levels for Air Traffic Controllers. There is nothing that can be done, really, to speed up the training and maintain quality. The actual hardware is a different matter. Hopefully, Secretary Duffy can put the kibosh on the FAA’s usual “Not Invented Here” problems. I have little doubt that there are any number of companies that have ideas on how to improve the Air Traffic Control system. They just need to get the bureaucrats and DEI types out of the way.
Thatisall
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