At the same hearing, National Air Traffic Controllers
Association President John Carr outlined ideas to
improve the ATO, address staffing problems, and plan
for future air traffic growth.
According to a statement issued by the union, Carr
agreed that the ATO has made progress with structural
change but complained, “the current relationship
between ATO — and FAA human resources — creates
excessive bureaucracy for even the simplest of
tasks.” The union wants HR to fall under the
direction of the COO.
It also wants to get rid of regional service area
boundaries for air traffic controllers, arguing a
controller certified in one region can complete
training for a new region faster than a new hire.
The agency is anticipating having to replace many
of the ATO’s roughly 14,000 controllers who are
nearing retirement.
Carr also proposed allowing graduates of the
collegiate training initiative to bypass the FAA
academy in Oklahoma City for training, arguing that
the academy’s only real value is to the screening
process, and adding that FAA said the academy is
not really used for that anymore.
He said if those students could bypass academy
training the agency could revise workforce plan
costs and “reprogram funds” to speed up training
and “eliminate considerable waste within the
contractor training functions.”
