Back-Seat Driver: Air traffic controllers hit the road

Sacramento International Airport officials are prepping for a major expansion this summer, hoping to stay ahead of a potential construction moratorium in the dangerous Natomas flood zone.

But there is another safety concern hovering over the tarmac here and at airports across the nation: The turnover rate among air traffic controllers is soaring.

Federal Aviation Administration figures indicate 30 percent of the nation's air traffic controllers will have retired between 2006 and 2008.

That's 4,350 of the nation's 14,800 monitors.

At the Northern California radar facility at Mather Field – which handles flights after they leave airport airspace – "we lost five in one day this month," said Steve Hefley, spokesman for the controllers union.

The turnover was predictable.

It stems from the dramatic moment in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan fired and replaced the nation's striking air traffic controllers.

Those replacements are hitting their regular 25-year retirement age, practically en masse.

The obvious question: Does this affect air safety?

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association contends the skies are more dangerous as beginners are rushed in to replace experienced workers.

They argue the FAA has been unable to keep up with new hires and is forcing more controllers to work overtime, leading to fatigue, potential error and potential plane delays. Controllers are working under an FAA-imposed contract and are pushing to reopen negotiations.

At the Mather facility, known as TRACON, union officials say there are only 137 fully vetted controllers, where there should be 196.

"The bodies aren't here to properly staff the facility," Hefley said.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor strongly rebutted Hefley last week, saying air traffic controllers are irresponsibly stirring alarm by throwing around bad numbers.

The 196 number was part of a previous contract agreement, he said, far more than is currently needed at Mather TRACON.

The FAA now considers adequate staffing at Mather to be between 141 and 173, Gregor said. The facility currently has 140 fully certified controllers and 23 trainees, he said.

In the tower at Sacramento International Airport, there now are nine controllers. Staffing levels call for 11, FAA officials said. Four trainees have arrived, and more are due, local FAA supervisor Roman Miszkewycz said.

Union representative Lee Schenck said that means extra work and stress getting those people up to speed. "We didn't get ahead of the game," he said.

But Miszkewycz said he is pleased with the airport's trainees. "The caliber is outstanding."

Nationally, FAA officials are offering incentives for some controllers to stick around beyond the regular retirement mark of 25 years of service. And more controllers are working overtime, spokesman Gregor acknowledged.

But, he said, the number of air traffic controller errors generally is stable and even dropped locally last year.

At the Mather radar center, the FAA says controllers committed 17 errors in 2005, 22 in 2006 and 13 in 2007.

This is not a repeat of the drama in towers in the 1980s, Gregor argued.

"We went through this before in a much more intense, pressured situation when today's veterans were rookies," Gregor said. "We replaced them with minimal impacts."

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