Summary
- The aviation industry faces severe air traffic controller shortage, resulting in operational challenges and safety concerns.
- Recent York airports experiencing reduced capability on account of staffing shortages, leading to fewer flights and selections for consumers.
- Airlines for America calls for cooperation between industry and government to take a position in aviation infrastructure and enhance air traffic controller training.
In a speech to aviation industry leaders on the Aero Club of Washington DC, Airlines for America President Nick Calio called for cooperation between industry and government to deal with infrastructure issues in US aerospace. Airlines for America, a lobby group representing ten member airlines, including Alaska and Hawaiian, has called for enormous investments into aviation infrastructure to forestall future runway incursions.
While saying the aviation industry was at “an inflection point,” Calio focused on the failure to staff latest air traffic controllers to fulfill industry needs, which had ramifications in several ways. “We’re still 3,000 controllers in need of what we’d like to have,” Calio said. “Right away, the system isn’t working because it should.”
Photo: Douglas Litchfield I Shutterstock
Calio was echoing an identical speech in September to the US Chamber of Commerce. Since then, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has published a report saying that greater than 75% of air traffic facilities in the USA are understaffed. The report, published by the Safety Review Team (SRT) of the National Airspace System (NAS), identified the controller shortage as contributing to a rise in close calls of aircraft collisions in the USA.
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Greater than 75% of ATC facilities across the US are reportedly understaffed.
Give attention to NY
The Airlines for America president pointed to a recent decision by the FAA to scale back capability at Recent York airports as one in all the economic negative effects of the air traffic controller shortage.
JetBlue, an Airlines for America member airline, had cited a shortage of air traffic controllers in its recent announcement of route cuts in its upcoming Summer 2024 operating schedule. “The staffing shortages have had a fabric and direct impact on our system,” Calio said. “Consumers are met with fewer flights and fewer selections – unacceptable.”
Problems for JetBlue
Based on Calio, the less landing slots available at Recent York’s area airports had caused airlines to upsize their aircraft used on domestic routes. Upsizing refers back to the choice of larger aircraft on routes generally operated by smaller aircraft, which normally boost each capability and associated operating cost of the larger aircraft type. United Airlines, one in all the Airlines for America member airlines, used a record-breaking variety of domestic widebody flights this past holiday season.
Photo: Air Lines For America
“What’s happening in Recent York is going on across the country,” Calio said. Airlines for America has also recently experienced difficult arrival slots of Recent York-based JetBlue internationally. For B6, the group led efforts to lobby the federal government to intervene in Amsterdam’s decision to limit arrival slots at its Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport (AMS). JetBlue had risked missing out on serving AMS through the peak holiday season.
Calio voiced support for relaunching FAA programs to cooperate with industry research in Air Traffic Controller training. Calico was asked if he could name a dollar figure for the way much money could be required by Congress so as to fix the problems facing the industry and declined to offer a precise figure, adding that he would provide you with one.
The meeting was the Aero Club of Washington, DC’s first meeting in 2024. The club is made up of execs and leadership from various aviation stakeholders, including representatives from Boeing, the FAA, The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and the National Business Aviation Association, amongst others.