Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday unveiled a raft of measures designed to expand the ranks of the nation’s air traffic controllers.
Under the terms of a new agreement between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), graduates of the FAA Academy will receive a bonus for completing their courses and additional incentives for agreeing to work in hard to staff or high cost of living areas.
The deal offers bonuses of 20 percent of basic pay each year to certified air traffic controllers (ATCs) who are eligible for retirement but opt to stay on the job. Also included are provisions to speed up the granting of security clearances to air traffic controllers, increase the number of instructors at the agency’s academy, and expand opportunities for military veterans in air traffic control positions.
At a press conference, Duffy said he’s already seeing encouraging results from his decision to reduce the FAA hiring process from eight steps to five and hopes the new bundle of incentives will get young people excited about ATC careers, while also retaining the sector’s most experienced personnel.
“If you’re looking for a great job paying you well over $100,000, air traffic control is a place we’re looking to hire as we go through this supercharge,” Duffy said. “The academy is about four months of training, and then you’re out in a tower making real money.”
With the new measures coming into place, the FAA is on track to hire at least 2,000 controllers this year, according to the DOT.
Duffy said the ATC system is currently short 3,000 controllers, a gap he hopes to close within three or four years, though he conceded it could take longer.
“It is a thoughtful, concerted effort to go ‘how do you make up the gap?’” he said. “And we can’t snap our fingers to make up the numbers, but I’m happy that, at this moment, this team has thought about solutions.”
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As part of the incentives package, FAA Academy graduates will receive a bonus of $5,000 after completing training. Graduates assigned to one of 13 hard-to-staff regions will receive a bonus of $10,000.
Air traffic controllers who are eligible to retire but under the mandatory retirement age of 56 will receive a lump sum payment of 20 percent of their basic pay for each year they continue to work.
It is not clear how long the new bonuses will be on offer. Duffy called the measures “temporary” but acknowledged it may take several years to stabilize the ATC workforce.
The drive to hire and retain air traffic controllers comes as public trust in the nation’s ATC system is falling.
- READ MORE: How to Become an Air Traffic Controller
One major blow came in January, when an American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. A total of 67 people were killed. There have also been a number of high-profile near-misses, equipment failures, and small aircraft crashes in recent months, and while FAA data suggests air accidents are actually down compared to last year, there is a growing sense in Washington that the current ATC system needs reform.
NATCA president Nick Daniels said new equipment and facilities are needed in addition to expanded recruitment, and Duffy hinted that a major announcement on ATC infrastructure is coming in the near future.
Earlier this week President Donald Trump said he wants to replace the entire ATC system, which he described as “very obsolete” and in desperate need of an overhaul. Trump and Duffy said they will need approval from Congress to move forward with that plan and did not mention how much it would cost. The president said that, in the interest of completing the project as soon as possible, he would like a single contractor to take on the job and put forward IBM and Raytheon as potential candidates.
