Aviation experts urge investments in air traffic control staffing, new technologies

Yahoo

04-03-2025

March 4 (UPI) -- The nation's air traffic control system is obsolete and understaffed, which significantly degrades safety, aviation industry experts told the House Aviation Subcommittee on Tuesday morning.
The industry experts provided testimony during the subcommittee's hearing titled, "America Builds: Air Traffic Control System Infrastructure and Staffing."
The hearing held at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., was designed to help the subcommittee identify critical problems with the nation's air traffic system and learn how to address them.
"Our nation's air traffic control system is outdated," subcommittee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., said while opening the hearing. "It must be modernized for the benefit and safety of all users of the national airspace system."
Graves said the issue has been "thrust back into the spotlight following a string of tragic accidents" and the subcommittee must decide how to use technological developments to supplement the work done by air traffic controllers and others in the nation's airport towers and centers.
He said officials in the Trump administration support "historic investments in air traffic control facilities and technologies" to improve safety while transforming the nation's air traffic system.
The Trump administration has asked Congress to allocate $858 million in FAA funding to hire more systems specialists and air traffic controllers to improve air traffic safety.
The subcommittee hearing will help House members to better understand how to possibly allocate that funding.
Obsolete equipment endangers safety
Airlines for America President and Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Calio told the subcommittee the nation's current air traffic control system equipment "woefully obsolescent, unreliable and ineffective." Airlines for America is an airline trade organization.
He said there are many reasons why the current system is inadequate to support safety, including deficiencies in staffing, facilities, technology, equipment, funding and investments.
"Addressing staffing shortages and replacing antiquated systems will reduce costs and inefficiencies, while strengthening American competitiveness and will also ensure the [Federal Aviation Administration] continues to uphold the highest standards of safety for all who use our nation's airspace," Calio told the subcommittee.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association President and Chief Executive Officer Pete Bunce urged the subcommittee to focus on five areas:
Emergency funding for air traffic control technology, infrastructure and controller staffing and training.
Directing the FAA to deploy state-of-the-art technology.
Re-align and modernize air traffic control facilities to improve efficiency.
Use Airport & Airway Trust Fund monies to enhance safety in the air and on the ground.
Exempt the FAA from potential federal government shutdowns.
Managing director of the Government Accountability Office Physical Infrastructure division Heather Krause cited a 2023 outage of aging air traffic control system that temporarily shut down the nation's airspace as showing the need to assess and improve the nation's air traffic control systems.
More than three-fourths of that nation's air traffic control systems that were assessed were either unsustainable, 37%, or potentially unsustainable, 39%, Krause said.
The FAA conducted an operations risk assessment of 138 systems and declared 51 of them were unsustainable and 54 were potentially unsustainable, she told the subcommittee.
The GAO in 2023 and 2024 recommended the FAA do more to invest in next-generation technology to improve air traffic control systems and develop a risk-mitigation approach to improve air safety.
Controller shortage also affects safety
The Jan. 29 midair collision between an airliner and military helicopter that killed 67 at the Washington National Airport showed the need for a "highly trained, highly skilled air traffic controller workforce and thousands of other aviation safety professionals ... to ensure that the U.S. remains the gold standard for aviation safety," National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels said.
"Air traffic controllers ... are the backbone of the [national airspace system] and require rigorous training, a mastery of complex systems and the ability to perform under immense pressure," Daniels said in his written testimony.
Yet they are overworked and understaffed and often work 10-hour days six days a week while using outdated equipment in run-down facilities that often are more than 60 years old and in need of upgrading or replacement, Daniels said.
He said the nation is near a 30-year low in air traffic controller staffing and over the past two fiscal years hired 1,500 and 1,800 air traffic controllers, respectively, but more are needed.
"Sustained maximum hiring for at least the next five years will help the FAA approach the proper staffing levels needed to meet all of its needs," Daniels said.
Equipment made unreliable
In addition to a shortage in air traffic controllers, a declining number of systems specialists is having a significant effect on air traffic safety, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists President Dave Spero told the subcommittee.
The nation has more than 4,800 systems specialists who install, operate, maintain and repair the nation's more than 74,000 radar, communications, navigational aids, computer automation, airport lighting and other important infrastructure systems, Spero said.
The number of systems specialists has declined for several years and is getting worse as more specialists are retiring every year, he told the subcommittee.
"Insufficient systems specialist staffing not only leads to prolonged restoration times and increased air traffic delays during outages but also poses challenges in ensuring adequate shift coverage," Spero said.
The insufficient number of systems specialists increases the "risk of significant air traffic disruptions during an unscheduled system outage," he added.
It takes time to recruit and train new systems specialists, who Spero said require up to three years to effectively install,maintain and repair air traffic control systems and other important airport infrastructure.
He suggested the FAA "prioritize robust staffing strategies and streamlined training programs" to lessen the shortage of qualified aviation systems specialists.