Controllers Blast FAA Chief Over Withheld 2.8% Raise
Controllers Blast FAA Chief Over Withheld 2.8% Raise
The News
More than 400 people identifying as U.S. air traffic controllers told the Washington Examiner that the nation's aviation system has reached a breaking point, and their sharpest complaint is aimed at FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.
The specific grievance: Bedford has acknowledged the FAA is withholding a 2.8% retroactive raise, and, according to the Examiner's report, wrongly framed it as a union matter outside the agency's control. Controllers say Congress approved and funded the compensation package months ago.
Bedford has tied the money to productivity — he wants controllers working five hours at the controls per shift instead of the current four, the report says.
A sourcing note for readers: this is one outlet's exclusive. The Washington Examiner reported it on Friday; the left-leaning site AlterNet then summarized and quoted that reporting at length. The Frank has not independently verified the Examiner's interviews, and every controller quoted in it is anonymous. No union statement appears in either account.
Timeline
The National Transportation Safety Board tells Congress that research in a simulated air traffic control room showed extended time on task, beyond 90 minutes, increased detection latency for complex events such as two aircraft at the same altitude on the same flight path.
A controller from the New York Center retires after more than two decades, telling the Examiner he left because of the deteriorating culture. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said management at his facility focused heavily on keeping controllers on shift longer.
The Washington Examiner publishes its report, built on interviews with more than 400 people identifying as controllers, days before a Labor Day travel weekend in which some 3 million people are expected to fly.
Reactions
Controllers told the Examiner that Bedford is running a federal safety agency like a corporate balance sheet, comparing his approach to his time at the regional carrier Republic Airways and saying cost-effectiveness has been put ahead of public safety.
"We work hard every day and take a tremendous amount of pride in what we do. Most of us are veterans," one controller told the paper. "We have been completely demoralized for the past five years while trying to manage the busiest airspace in the world with more airplanes than any other time in aviation."
Another aimed at both the administrator and his boss: "Controllers are working harder than ever, moving more traffic than ever, and are responsible for a large portion of the country's GDP but Bedford and [Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy] are literally trying to make [the] job more difficult instead of helping us."
The retired New York Center controller said of his old facility: "With the administration that's in now, the morale in that building is at an all-time low."
Several current and retired controllers told the Examiner their union has been treading lightly with the Trump administration out of concern the government could legally move to decertify it, as the Reagan administration did. The Frank found no comment from the FAA, the Department of Transportation, Bedford or Duffy in either source.
What's Next
The immediate test is the Labor Day weekend rush, with roughly 3 million passengers expected in the air.
The unresolved question is the 2.8% retroactive raise: Bedford has said it stays on hold until the agency can, in his framing, unlock more productivity by moving controllers to five hours at the controls per shift. Nothing in either report indicates the FAA has set a date to release the money or that controllers have agreed to the longer stretch.
More
The Workload
Every controller who spoke with the Examiner described the same pattern: about four days off per month, shifts that regularly run 10 hours, and two mandatory overtime shifts a week that turn a standard four-day, 40-hour schedule into a six-day week.
Insiders told the paper that suicides among controllers run eight times the national average, and that tenured employees are increasingly leaving years before mandatory retirement age.
The Math
More than 906 million people boarded flights in the United States last year, compared with 295 million in 1980, according to figures cited in the reporting. About 11,000 certified controllers work today, against 16,300 then.
Poll
Should the FAA release the 2.8% retroactive raise now?
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