Latest news with #DaveSpero
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Shortfall of air travel system technicians aggravates technical issues
May 20 (UPI) -- The Newark airport task force is discussing solutions to communications issues that grounded multiple flights over the past month while the air traffic industry struggles with shortages. The Federal Aviation Administration's newly-formed task force with representatives from Verizon and L3Harris convened its first meeting last week. It is responding to at least three incidents in which air traffic controllers for Newark Liberty International Airport lost their primary communication lines with aircrafts in flight. The FAA reports that low staffing levels and low training success are contributing factors to congestion and flight delays at the airport. It held meetings with airlines from Wednesday through Friday. From the meeting, several solutions were proposed to address congestion and flight delays. The FAA proposed a maximum arrival and departure rate of 28 aircraft per hour until the construction of another runway is complete. When that is complete, it recommends a maximum arrival rate of 34 aircraft per hour until Oct. 25. The FAA is adding additional telecommunications connections between New York's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System and Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control Area C. It is also replacing copper telecommunications lines with fiberoptic lines which have greater bandwidth and speed. Newark Liberty International is operating under a unique configuration of air traffic control technology, according to Dave Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists. He explained to UPI the transition it has undergone since last summer. PASS represents 11,000 FAA employees but it does not represent air traffic controllers. Philadelphia TRACON Area C has taken on the responsibility of directing aircraft at Newark Liberty International Airport since June. This transition involved moving automation equipment and staff to the Philadelphia location from the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control. "So to do that, they've got to sort of duplicate that environment," Spero told UPI. "You've got to send all the technology there to Philadelphia just as if it were in the same building it was in before. All the communications that they had, all of the automation equipment which produces the aircraft targets on their displays, the flight data that allows an aircraft controller to know the range and the air speed, everything that corresponds to air traffic control needs to be taken down to Philadelphia." "The problem that they've encountered is that the external communication lines that take all that information down to Philadelphia and put it on the displays have been failing," Spero continued. This equipment is handled by a third party under the purview of L3Harris, an aerospace and defense contractor based in Melbourne, Fla. On Monday, Philadelphia TRACON Area C reported that it lost radio frequencies for about two seconds at about 11:35 a.m. ET. The FAA is investigating the incident but all aircraft remained at a safe distance from each other. The task force is investigating the multiple potential reasons for the failures, with the involvement of Verizon and L3Harris in the task force indicating to Spero that the communication lines are the main suspect. "It's really not the equipment that's causing the failure. It's the communication in between," Spero said. "The equipment our folks maintain is working just as it should. Frankly, if something goes wrong with the communication line or something was wrong in New York, those technicians in Philadelphia can't do anything about it. Either the communication company or the technicians in New York have to get into the automation and see what's happening with the software, which is not what the errors have been." The issue in Newark highlights bigger issues facing the U.S. air travel infrastructure. The nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers has been reported to Congress but there is also a shortage of technicians -- specialists who maintain, repair, troubleshoot and certify the transportation systems used by air traffic controllers. There are about 4,800 transportation systems specialists in the United States. They are responsible for technical equipment across 400 airports and about 70,000 facilities, according to Spero. According to the FAA's "Transportation Operations staffing model" about 800 more technicians are needed. Meanwhile the average age of the current specialist workforce is in its mid-50s with 34% 55 years old or older. As a large portion of this workforce nears retirement, the government is preparing to take on a large-scale overhaul of its infrastructure. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced earlier this month that he aims to replace the nation's air traffic control system. The FAA plans to increase controller staffing at Philadelphia TRACON Area C. It did not mention adding specialists in its readout of last week's meeting. Replacing the air traffic control system makes the need for more airway transportation systems specialists even more crucial, Spero said. "It's an enormous challenge," Spero said. "It's like changing tires on a vehicle when it's going 70 mph. You can't stop providing services while you're creating a new service. If we're going to start to rebuild this air traffic control system and start to put other new technologies out there and replace equipment then this workforce is going to be integral to that solution." A 2023 report from the Office of the Inspector General advised that it takes about a year and a half to promote a newly-hired maintenance technician to the level of journeyman. Prior to that, specialists undergo three years of training at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. The Inspector General recommended that the FAA establish a maintenance technician workforce plan that acknowledges more than a year is needed to prepare for staffing turnover, as well as three other recommendations. That recommendation has not been adopted while the other three have. Having a workforce shortage also impacts the progress of new hires. "What's happening now is when someone retires, one of their coworkers has to take on the workload of that individual," Spero explained. "'So now I double my workload and also am going to have to train the new person that comes on.' Those are challenges that they have."
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Layoffs hit FAA, including employees tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps
The Trump administration's mass layoffs across federal agencies have hit the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has terminated over 100 probationary employees. That includes some of those who work on the team responsible for producing air traffic navigation maps, multiple sources told ABC News. The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), which represents over 11,000 FAA employees, said 132 probationary employees were terminated. MORE: Here are all the federal agencies where workers are being fired "We believe all of these employees are critical not only to the frontline safety workers, but to the entire aviation ecosystem," PASS National President Dave Spero told ABC News in a statement. The FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation have insisted no critical employees were let go. Overall, the FAA employees about 45,000 people. Some of the employees impacted were part of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO) en route charting group, which is responsible for maintaining and updating Enroute Navigation Charts used in the National Airspace System and by air traffic controllers around the country, sources told ABC News. Those terminations were communicated via email early Saturday morning. MORE: Trump administration moves up TPS expiration date for Haitian migrants "I was three weeks shy of my probationary employment with the FAA, and I received an email late Friday night into Saturday morning, outlining my termination effective immediately," one of the FAA employees who was laid off told ABC News. "It was a shock given the fact how critical my position was with public safety, with air travel." The employee, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation, said that inside the FAA, there is "a lot of fear for public safety" given the layoffs. "If we're no longer there to create the maps that air traffic air traffic controls are using, mistakes will eventually happen," they said. According to the FAA website, the Air Traffic Organization is the "operational arm" of the FAA. "It is responsible for providing safe and efficient air navigation services to 29.4 million square miles of airspace. This represents more than 17 percent of the world's airspace and includes all of the United States and large portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico," the website states. Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander, who was an employee at the FAA's National Defense Program and was also the FAA lead for open mission systems support replacement and the Hawaii National Defense Program, told ABC News that his termination caught him off guard. He said that at the time of hiring, it was explained to him that he was required to work even during a government shutdown. "My position was a public safety, national defense critical position, because I was required to work whenever there was a government shutdown," he said, adding, "So when a government shutdown occurred, I was required to work because national security, national defense, public safety doesn't care whether or not Congress can get its act together to actually pass a budget." Spitzer-Stadtlander told ABC that late on the night of Feb. 14, he was locked out of his work program and computer systems and, shortly after midnight, he received an email notifying him that he had been terminated. 'My immediate thought was that I had been hacked … It was nowhere on my radar that I was at risk of being fired," Spitzer-Stadtlander said. MORE: Fired Forest Service, Park Service workers say cuts will be felt on fire lines The email he received, viewed by ABC, stated: 'DOT FAA finds that based on your performance you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the DOT FAA would be in the public interest. For this reason, the DOT FAA is removing you from your position with DOT FAA and the federal civil service effective today.' Spitzer-Stadtlander said he had recently undergone a performance review where he received an 'excellent' evaluation, and he had also been awarded a merit-based performance value for performance pay raise that was set to go into effect in the pay period he was fired. He told ABC that he has retained counsel and plans to appeal the termination decision. The FAA did not respond to ABC's requests for comment on Spitzer-Stadtlander's termination. Layoffs hit FAA, including employees tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps originally appeared on
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Layoffs hit FAA, including employees tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps
The Trump administration's mass layoffs across federal agencies have hit the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has terminated over 100 probationary employees. That includes some of those who work on the team responsible for producing air traffic navigation maps, multiple sources told ABC News. The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), which represents over 11,000 FAA employees, said 132 probationary employees were terminated. MORE: Here are all the federal agencies where workers are being fired "We believe all of these employees are critical not only to the frontline safety workers, but to the entire aviation ecosystem," PASS National President Dave Spero told ABC News in a statement. The FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation have insisted no critical employees were let go. Overall, the FAA employees about 45,000 people. Some of the employees impacted were part of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO) en route charting group, which is responsible for maintaining and updating Enroute Navigation Charts used in the National Airspace System and by air traffic controllers around the country, sources told ABC News. Those terminations were communicated via email early Saturday morning. MORE: Trump administration moves up TPS expiration date for Haitian migrants "I was three weeks shy of my probationary employment with the FAA, and I received an email late Friday night into Saturday morning, outlining my termination effective immediately," one of the FAA employees who was laid off told ABC News. "It was a shock given the fact how critical my position was with public safety, with air travel." The employee, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation, said that inside the FAA, there is "a lot of fear for public safety" given the layoffs. "If we're no longer there to create the maps that air traffic air traffic controls are using, mistakes will eventually happen," they said. According to the FAA website, the Air Traffic Organization is the "operational arm" of the FAA. "It is responsible for providing safe and efficient air navigation services to 29.4 million square miles of airspace. This represents more than 17 percent of the world's airspace and includes all of the United States and large portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico," the website states. Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander, who was an employee at the FAA's National Defense Program and was also the FAA lead for open mission systems support replacement and the Hawaii National Defense Program, told ABC News that his termination caught him off guard. He said that at the time of hiring, it was explained to him that he was required to work even during a government shutdown. "My position was a public safety, national defense critical position, because I was required to work whenever there was a government shutdown," he said, adding, "So when a government shutdown occurred, I was required to work because national security, national defense, public safety doesn't care whether or not Congress can get its act together to actually pass a budget." Spitzer-Stadtlander told ABC that late on the night of Feb. 14, he was locked out of his work program and computer systems and, shortly after midnight, he received an email notifying him that he had been terminated. 'My immediate thought was that I had been hacked … It was nowhere on my radar that I was at risk of being fired," Spitzer-Stadtlander said. MORE: Fired Forest Service, Park Service workers say cuts will be felt on fire lines The email he received, viewed by ABC, stated: 'DOT FAA finds that based on your performance you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the DOT FAA would be in the public interest. For this reason, the DOT FAA is removing you from your position with DOT FAA and the federal civil service effective today.' Spitzer-Stadtlander said he had recently undergone a performance review where he received an 'excellent' evaluation, and he had also been awarded a merit-based performance value for performance pay raise that was set to go into effect in the pay period he was fired. He told ABC that he has retained counsel and plans to appeal the termination decision. The FAA did not respond to ABC's requests for comment on Spitzer-Stadtlander's termination. Layoffs hit FAA, including employees tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps originally appeared on
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Aviation firings a ‘concern' amid increase in plane crashes
(NewsNation) — Despite all 80 people on board a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis being expected to survive, Monday's plane crash in Toronto marks yet another major incident in the aviation industry in recent weeks. Dave Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, told 'Morning in America' the rapid firings of air traffic control staff could have introduced risks into the system and led to an increase in plane crashes. 'The aircraft control system in the United States is safe,' Spero said. 'You never know why these sorts of things happen in these kinds of bunches, but our concern right now is … you can't just suddenly make big changes and [fire] a whole bunch of people and introduce risk into the system.' 'Upside down and burning': All passengers escape Delta plane crash The Trump administration has recently fired hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a fatal midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. In a social media post late Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said fewer than 400 FAA employees were fired and that 'zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go.' As for what caused Monday's crash, Spero said he believes the National Transportation Safety Board is the authority on these matters for a reason. 'They go in there and they pull the whole thing apart and look at every aspect of the crash and make sure that they go by evidence and come up with the outcome,' he said. 'You cannot tell what this is all about.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
