National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: Front Matter
Page 1
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

Summary

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) faces four challenges in identifying the level of air traffic controller staffing needed to provide safe and cost-effective services for the diverse range of aviation operations supported in American airspace. First, there are no definitive methods available to FAA or to air traffic control (ATC) providers in other countries for relating staffing to safety or airspace performance beyond historical trends. Second, FAA is working with uncertain traffic forecasts, which have often overestimated future levels of air traffic. Third, controller training requires significant lead time. Most FAA trainees require between 1½ and 3 years of on-the-job training to qualify fully for all facility positions, and even certified controllers require at least a year to recertify when they are transferred to a new facility. Fourth, the controller workforce available within the next year can be uncertain. In 2014, for example, roughly 9.8 percent of the controller workforce is predicted to be lost because of trainees failing to qualify, promotions out of controller positions, and retirements. Indeed, 3,224 controllers (21 percent of the workforce) were eligible for retirement at the end of FY 2012. Thus, FAA recently increased the number of trainees, temporarily expanding the size of the workforce relative to traffic demand in anticipation of pending retirements.

FAA must address all the challenges identified above to ensure safe and cost-effective staffing, not only at the national level but also at each of its 315 facilities. Furthermore, it must ensure that staffing continues to be appropriate as it implements the new air traffic operations environment associated with its modernization initiative, the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).

In response to long-standing debates about appropriate controller staffing, Section 608 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 tasked the National Academy of Sciences with studying “the air traffic controller standards used by the [FAA] to estimate staffing needs for FAA air traffic controllers to ensure the safe operation of the national airspace system in the most cost effective manner.” The term “staffing standards” is defined narrowly by FAA to mean mathematical models relating controller workload to air traffic activity (FAA 2013). These staffing standards, sometimes referred to as staffing models, are only one part of the larger process used by FAA in determining controller staffing levels. Consistent with clarification from congressional staff, the committee took a broader approach and considered the full range of processes that FAA uses in estimating the number of controllers it needs, including the input of facility managers as well as mathematical models, and the processes by which FAA ensures that controllers are properly distributed across facilities.

Overall, the committee found FAA’s staffing standards for terminal ATC facilities to be reasonable for use in developing initial estimates of the number of controllers needed for managing traffic at each facility. However, it had concerns about the validity of the mathematical model used for en route facilities and the resulting estimates of controller staffing needs. The steps taken by FAA to create a controller staffing plan from the staffing standards and then execute this staffing plan are obscure. As a result, the committee was unable to determine the extent to which staffing imbalances are being corrected over time to help ensure cost-effective staffing.

Page 2
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

SAFETY IN STAFFING

ATC is considered vital to the safety of aviation operations. However, the relationship between controller staffing levels and aviation safety is not well understood. Various FAA organizations gather data related to safety; examples include data on incidents violating various safety criteria without causing accidents, records of actual operations, and voluntary controller reports from the Air Traffic Safety Action Program. However, the committee found no systematic and proactive mechanisms within FAA for (a) analyzing these data for concerns relative to staffing levels or (b) involving the controller workforce in discussions about staffing concerns as knowledge about relevant safety issues emerges. Thus, FAA does not have the data to anticipate with any certainty the safety effects of changes in current controller staffing levels or changes in air traffic operations with NextGen.

Recommendation 1

FAA should explore the relationships between controller staffing and safety by

Analyzing the wide range of data that can identify relationships between staffing and safety, including accident and incident reports, voluntary reports by controllers from the Air Traffic Safety Action Program, and other databases that, if properly integrated, can relate safety to staffing concerns (e.g., records of actual shifts worked); and

Involving the controller workforce in staffing decisions, particularly as knowledge concerning relevant safety issues emerges.

FAA should use insights gained from these activities to inform decisions about controller staffing levels associated with the transition to NextGen and any other policies likely to result in changes in historically safe staffing levels. {2-5, 5-5}1

DETERMINATION OF WORKFORCE SIZE

The size of the controller workforce is based on three general steps: (a) point estimates derived from models, including forecasts of air traffic demand; (b) expansion of point estimates into ranges that incorporate input from facility managers; and (c) a hiring plan and transfer process that result in net changes to the total workforce and its distribution across FAA’s 315 facilities.

The first step, point estimates for each of the facilities, is the output of staffing standards (i.e., mathematical models). The models predict the number of controllers needed on position to perform traffic-related tasks, most notably, separating aircraft from one another. However, the models do not explicitly account for a number of important off-position controller tasks, such as ongoing training to maintain certification, provision of training for new controllers, participation in safety initiatives, and support of new technology development and implementation.

In the committee’s judgment, the models used to estimate controller staffing requirements for airport control towers and terminal radar approach control facilities are mostly reasonable for their purpose, with the exception of the current scheduling algorithm (see below). However, in the case of the task load model for en route facilities, the committee shares the concerns of a

___________

1 The numbers in braces following the summary recommendations refer to related recommendations in the report chapters.

Page 3
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

predecessor committee, which focused exclusively on this model (TRB 2010). The 2010 report recommended actions to improve the model, but FAA2 has taken only limited steps toward implementing these recommendations. Thus, the current committee cannot assess with confidence whether FAA’s staffing model for en route facilities is on track to meet the recommendations of the 2010 report. The current committee had a broader charter than the authors of the 2010 report: to examine the entire staffing process as opposed to only the en route staffing model. In this context, the current committee questions whether the detailed task load model is appropriate for staff planning. The model’s level of detail adds considerably to the cost and difficulty both of validating all of its parameters and of updating the model to describe the new types of operations envisioned under NextGen.

Because FAA “staffs to traffic,” its staffing estimates are scaled by forecast changes in aviation traffic. FAA’s traffic forecasts, at least since 2000, have consistently overestimated future levels of air traffic. The models applied by FAA are not sufficiently documented to explain or justify the overestimates. In practice, a high estimate one year can be followed by lower hiring the next year from a national perspective, but overstaffing can be created at individual facilities that do not experience enough attrition to correct any imbalance. Thus, overly optimistic traffic forecasts can have a lasting impact.

In the second step, the model-based staffing standards are combined with productivity data, where available, and with assessments of staffing needs from operational managers to generate a desired staffing range for each facility. These ranges are reported to Congress annually in FAA’s controller workforce plan. The input from operational managers, known as service unit input (SUI), is intended to reflect each facility’s unique operational requirements. FAA’s ongoing efforts to establish consistent methods for capturing SUI appear to address issues raised in an earlier report (TRB 1997). However, these methods have not been clearly documented and can appear arbitrary.

For the third step, the hiring of new controllers and the transfer of current controllers from one facility to another are FAA’s primary mechanisms for adjusting staffing levels. The annual hiring plan for each facility is negotiated between FAA’s Office of Labor Analysis and its Air Traffic Organization on the basis of staffing targets (derived from the staffing ranges) and operational and training constraints. As in the case of other elements of staff planning, this negotiation is not fully documented and can appear subjective. Requests for transfer are initiated by controllers themselves, and FAA management makes no attempt to encourage controllers to move from facilities staffed above their target to facilities staffed below their target. Not surprisingly, therefore, the committee finds that transfers appear to be poorly coordinated and do not achieve their potential of redistributing the workforce to meet facility targets.

Taken in its entirety, the staffing process by which FAA determines the total number of controllers can sometimes appear arbitrary, both to this committee and to the organizations and workforce that need to implement the staffing plan within FAA. This concern arises because staff planning is not consistently documented and because it can be modified by various organizations within FAA in uncoordinated ways. The model-based staffing standards themselves are clearly documented, but this is not the case for other parts of the process. In the committee’s judgment, justification and consistent documentation and application of the methods used to determine the size of the controller workforce are critical for informed, data-driven decision making about staffing needs and hiring. Furthermore, the overall cost-effectiveness of FAA’s controller staffing process depends not only on developing a robust staffing plan but also

___________

2 The task load model for en route facilities was developed by MITRE Corporation under contract to FAA.

Page 4
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

on FAA’s ability to train and position these controllers appropriately at specific facilities. The body of the report offers several suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of the training, hiring, and transfer processes.

Recommendation 2

FAA should reassess its approach to developing an improved staffing model for en route facilities and make any necessary changes, potentially including the adaptation or formulation of a new model likely to be developed and validated in a timely manner and at reasonable cost. Any new model should be constructed in such a way that it can be updated as NextGen operations are implemented. {3-2}

Recommendation 3

FAA should take steps to ensure that the planning and execution of its air traffic controller staffing process are clear, consistent, and transparent to a range of stakeholders. Stakeholders include but are not limited to the following:

The controller workforce, which needs to engage with FAA in the collaborative development of improved staffing plans and their execution to ensure overall cost-effectiveness; and

Congress, which needs to make informed decisions about future budgets for controller staffing. {3-3, 4-2, 4-3}

COST-EFFECTIVE AND SAFE SCHEDULING

Work schedules determine how many controllers report to a facility at any given time, when they take breaks, and how long a recuperative period they have between work shifts. Schedules can affect whether controller staff are used in a cost-effective manner, particularly at larger facilities, which can benefit from economies of scale. In addition, scheduling can affect safety. Extensive evidence shows fatigue to be a risk factor in 24/7 operations such as ATC facilities. Rare but widely publicized incidents of FAA controllers falling asleep on the job have highlighted the issue. FAA has begun establishing a Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), including a working group involving controllers, management, and experts in fatigue. However, under recent budget cuts, FAA has effectively eliminated the FRMS program’s capability of monitoring for fatigue concerns proactively and of investigating whether recent initiatives to reduce fatigue risks are providing the intended benefits.

Air navigation service providers (ANSPs) in other nations, including Canada, Germany, and Australia, have implemented new scheduling software. FAA uses only a simple scheduling algorithm at a national level in generating staffing standards. A major limitation of this algorithm is its inability to schedule shifts that start one day and end the next (i.e., that cross midnight). Given concerns about controller fatigue on midnight shifts, this limitation is particularly problematic, and the algorithm may generate staffing levels insufficient for adequate fatigue mitigation. In addition, FAA headquarters provides no consistent guidance or tools to local facilities to help them develop their operational schedules. As a result, each facility develops its own schedule independently of FAA’s staff planning process. The actual controller schedules

Page 5
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

may not reflect key assumptions in the staff planning, may not be the most cost-effective, and may not incorporate best practices in fatigue risk management.

FAA is contracting with the same vendor used by ANSPs in other countries to implement a new scheduling tool, but the timeline of its implementation at all facilities is not fixed.3 The following are among the potential benefits of sophisticated scheduling software:

• It would provide a consistent basis for establishing work schedules that minimize or mitigate the safety risks associated with controller fatigue.

• It would ensure that diverse facilities are all capable of generating efficient schedules, particularly at larger facilities where economies of scale may be possible.

• It would provide a consistent basis for informing the development of staffing standards at FAA headquarters and the creation of work schedules at the facility level.

Schedule changes significantly affect the controller workforce. FAA will, therefore, need to collaborate closely with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in implementing an improved scheduling capability and in adopting revised schedules that address fatigue.

Recommendation 4

FAA should, as a matter of priority, continue its efforts to develop an improved scheduling tool capable of creating efficient controller work schedules that incorporate fatigue mitigation strategies. The agency should collaborate closely with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in implementing this improved scheduling capability, notably in adopting schedules that reflect science-based strategies for managing the risks associated with controller fatigue. {2-3, 3-1, 4-9}

BUDGETS AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS

The cost of FAA’s workforce of about 14,900 controllers in FY 2014 is estimated at $2.8 billion—about 18 percent of the total FAA budget and 29 percent of the Operations budget. FAA’s capital expenses and some of its operating expenses are covered by the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Over the past decade or more, the FAA Operations budget has required a substantial and growing amount of support from the General Fund—$4.4 billion in 2013, including $1.3 billion that helped to pay for the ATC workforce.

Congressional concerns about the cost-effectiveness of FAA’s staffing models are driven, in part, by the growing cost of the ATC staff and the growing reliance of the FAA Operations budget on general revenues over the past decade. In a time of fiscal austerity and stalemate in Congress with regard to deficit budgets and taxes, continuing to depend on the General Fund makes FAA Operations vulnerable to budget cuts. Revised forecasts of rebounding aviation trust fund receipts by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in 2013 and the administration in 2014 imply that growing trust fund revenues will be able to reverse the demand for General Fund revenues. In contrast to the $4.4 billion of General Fund revenues received in FY 2013, the administration is requesting only $700 million for FY 2015. Whether the administration’s and CBO’s revised forecasts will hold is open to question. Both forecasts imply faster growth in

___________

3 FAA’s target date for implementing the new scheduling tool at 15 facilities (the end of FY 2013) appears to have slipped.

Page 6
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

aviation demand than in gross domestic product or in FAA’s projected rate of increase in revenue passenger miles.

In case revised forecasts of aviation trust fund receipts prove optimistic and to help put concerns with regard to the cost of the ATC workforce in perspective, an illustrative example of a cut in ATC staffing of 8 percent is described in Chapter 6. Such a cut would reduce the cost of the ATC workforce by about $223 million, which represents about 1.4 percent of FAA’s annual budget and 7 percent of the General Fund revenues used for FAA Operations in 2014. Such a cut in staffing would have unknown effects on aviation safety and service and should not, therefore, be taken as a suggestion.

Air traffic has declined significantly since its peak in 2000 and is not expected to return to that level in the near term (FAA 2013). Meanwhile, controller staffing levels are similar to those in 2000. However, the systemwide data do not indicate that all ATC facilities are overstaffed or that controller productivity has dropped dramatically in all facilities over the past 13 years. Indeed, detailed recommendations within the report address some important facilities that appear to be chronically understaffed. Comparisons of controller staffing over time are complicated by changes in the composition of the workforce—for example, the high percentage of controllers eligible to retire and the large number of trainees being brought in to replace them.

Furthermore, the volume and nature of traffic vary significantly among ATC facility types. For example, while almost all types of operations have been reduced since 2000, the decline in ATC operations has been particularly pronounced at smaller towers. Thus, broad generalizations about controller productivity mask important variations at the level of individual facilities. At some larger facilities, changes in staffing levels may affect the throughput of busy airspace and could result in direct costs or benefits to aircraft operators. In contrast, at smaller facilities, staffing levels may depend on minimum staffing requirements that are not driven by traffic levels but instead by the hours when the facility is required to provide service.

Defining the most cost-effective staffing model, as requested in the committee’s charge, requires safety and performance metrics that FAA has not defined or assessed. Thus, the committee’s recommendations presented in this summary and in the report aim to enable controller staffing decisions that are consistent; that are driven by proper science and data analysis; and that will address relationships between ensuring safety, meeting the operational needs of the aviation community, and demonstrating cost-effectiveness.

REFERENCES

Abbreviations

FAA Federal Aviation Administration
TRB Transportation Research Board

FAA. 2013. A Plan for the Future: 10-Year Strategy for the Air Traffic Control Workforce, 2013–2022. http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/controller_staffing/media/CWP_2013.pdf.

TRB. 1997. Special Report 250: Air Traffic Control Facilities: Improving Methods to Determine Staffing Requirements. National Research Council, Washington, D.C.

TRB. 2010. Special Report 301: Air Traffic Controller Staffing in the En Route Domain: A Review of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Task Load Model. National Academies, Washington, D.C.

Page 7
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

1

Introduction

The National Airspace System (NAS) of the United States is dedicated to ensuring the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic through the largest, most complex air navigation system in the world. The system encompasses a vast array of air navigation facilities, equipment, and services; airports or landing areas; aeronautical charts, information, and services; rules, regulations, and procedures; technical information; and manpower and materials (FAA 2013a). Air traffic controllers are frontline operators in this system. They provide separation between aircraft operating under instrument flight rules (IFR) and a range of other safety functions to all types of aircraft and operations. This report examines the methods used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in estimating how many controllers are needed to staff its air traffic control (ATC) facilities and the processes used by FAA in staffing facilities consistent with these estimates. For context, as of the end of FY 2013 the FAA controller workforce totaled about 15,000, with a cost of approximately $2.8 billion (i.e., on the order of 20 percent of the total FAA budget).1

This chapter describes the job of an air traffic controller and notes how the demands on a controller vary across types of ATC facility and types of traffic. The challenges facing FAA as it seeks to establish safe and cost-effective staffing levels are discussed, and a high-level overview of the current staffing process is provided. The chapter concludes with discussion of the committee’s task and an overview of the report’s organization.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER FUNCTIONS AND FACILITIES

Air Traffic Controller Functions

Air traffic controllers are tasked with ensuring the safe and efficient flow of air traffic through the NAS at all times and under all conditions. The primary functions of air traffic controllers who are “on position” are to separate aircraft safely and issue safety alerts (FAA Order 7110.65). In addition, particularly at busy facilities, controllers’ activities support not only safety through other support functions to pilots but also the efficient handling of traffic within the airspace to increase throughput, reduce delays, and increase operational efficiency (e.g., by allowing flight profiles that reduce fuel consumption). Controllers are required to perform a variety of ancillary functions outside their on-position activities, such as participating in mandatory training and Air Traffic Safety Action Program activities and supporting the development, evaluation, and implementation of new technologies and procedures. Fully qualified controllers [certified professional controllers (CPCs)] may provide on-the-job training for partially qualified controllers [developmental controllers (developmentals) and CPCs in training (CPC-ITs)]. Thus, controllers not only spend time on position working traffic but also time off position fulfilling a range of ancillary duties (see Figure 1-1).

____________

1 Air traffic services for the NAS are also provided by 1,375 civilian contract controllers at contract towers and by more than 9,500 military controllers (FAA 2013b).

Page 8
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

image

FIGURE 1-1 Air traffic controller functions (OJT = on-the-job training).

ATC Facilities

Air traffic controller positions and tasks vary significantly among ATC facility types. Figure 1-2 provides an overview of the various facility types: terminal facilities [airport traffic control tower (ATCT) and terminal radar approach control (TRACON)] and en route facilities [air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs)]. The following paragraphs provide an overview of FAA’s air traffic facilities in en route and terminal environments and of facilities operated by private-sector organizations under FAA’s Federal Contract Tower program.

image

FIGURE 1-2 ATC facility overview. (SOURCE: FAA 2013b.)

Page 9
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

En Route Environment

En route facilities—also referred to as ARTCCs—provide for control and separation of aircraft that operate within a large section of airspace and are not assigned to towers or other terminal facilities At the end of FY 2012, FAA’s Office of Labor Analysis (ALA) reported to the committee that, of the 15,063 total air traffic controllers in 315 FAA facilities, 6,278 (i.e., just over 40 percent) worked in the ARTCCs. Twenty of these facilities are located within the contiguous United States (see Figure 1-3), and three additional facilities are located in Anchorage, Alaska (ZAN); Guam (ZUA); and San Juan, Puerto Rico (ZSU).

Each center is divided into four to eight areas of specialization, each of which is then partitioned into five to nine smaller sectors of low, high, or ultrahigh altitude. More than 750 sectors of airspace exist over the continental United States, and each sector can vary in size from several hundred to more than 30,000 cubic miles. While areas of specialization are well defined and rarely change, sectors within an area can be opened and closed or combined and uncombined in response to air traffic demand.

Each sector is staffed with one, two, or three controllers, depending on traffic demand. All open sectors are staffed with one lead radar, or R-side, controller. The R-side controller is responsible for communicating with and maintaining safe separation of aircraft and for coordinating other air traffic controllers. As traffic increases in a sector, a second, or associate, controller (known as a data, or D-side, controller) is added. The D-side controller typically receives flight plan information and assists in planning and organizing the flow of traffic within the sector. Infrequently a third (or T-side) controller is added during busy periods to support the lead R-side controller.

image

FIGURE 1-3 Boundaries of ARTCCs in the contiguous United States. (SOURCE: FAA, Presentation to the Committee for a Review of the En Route Air Traffic Control Complexity and Workload Model, 2010.)

Page 10
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×

En route centers handle a variety of traffic. Some sectors may have more pass-through or overflights, or international flights, while other sectors may have more nonradar traffic. Different traffic situations require different controller tasks, each with its specific demands. Thus, a simple count of the number of flights within a sector does not indicate a controller’s workload.

Terminal Environment

The terminal environment includes ATCT and TRACON facilities that manage air traffic in the immediate vicinity of an airport, particularly during ground operations and taxi, takeoff and departure, arrival, approach, and landing.2 ALA data show that, at the end of FY 2012, 8,785 controllers (i.e., just under 60 percent of the controller workforce) worked in the more than 290 terminal facilities.

Towers Controllers at towers typically manage air traffic within a range of a few miles of the airport (see Figure 1-2). Tower controllers manage takeoffs and landings, ensure minimum separation between aircraft both in the air and on the ground, transfer control of departing aircraft to TRACON controllers, and receive control of aircraft entering their airspace. The number and types of controllers on duty in a tower depend on the size of the tower and the layout of the airport. As air traffic, workload, and complexity increase and decrease, towers open additional or different positions and close or combine positions accordingly.

TRACON Airspace for TRACONs typically covers a 40-mile radius surrounding a primary airport, although this area can vary by facility. In general, TRACONs also deliver services to several smaller airports in the vicinity. Consolidated (or large) TRACONs in major metropolitan areas service multiple airports and are divided into areas of specialization, with each specialization containing groups of sectors.

Depending on the amount of traffic each day, the number of sectors in a TRACON and the number of controllers required to staff them are adjusted (up or down) to respond to air traffic demand. As air traffic, workload, and complexity increase, controllers can be added within a sector or sectors can be partitioned and more controller positions opened. Likewise, as air traffic and workload decrease, controller positions can close and sectors can be recombined. For busy airports, TRACON controllers play a vital role in establishing efficient traffic flows that position aircraft for maximized landing rates and allow for efficient flight profiles during arrival and departure.

Contract Towers

ATC services for the NAS are provided not only by FAA facilities of the types described above but also by facilities operated by private-sector organizations under contract to FAA. The Federal Contract Tower Program allows FAA to contract out ATC services at low-activity towers operating under visual flight rules. As of January 2014, there were 252 towers3 in the Contract Tower Program, of which 230 were fully funded by FAA, 16 were funded on a cost-sharing basis

____________

2 A number of terminal facilities combine tower and TRACON components and are categorized by FAA as “up–down” facilities. Controllers at these facilities can typically work in either component.

3 See p. 10 of the following document for a complete list: http://www.contracttower.org/ctaannual/13CTAannual.pdf.

Page 1
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 1
Page 2
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 2
Page 3
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 3
Page 4
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 4
Page 5
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 5
Page 6
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 6
Page 7
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 7
Page 8
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 8
Page 9
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 9
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18824.
×
Page 10
Next: 1 Introduction »
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

TRB has released the final version of Special Report 314: The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs that examines the methods used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to estimate how many controllers are needed to staff its air traffic control facilities and its processes for using these estimates to properly distribute controllers across facilities.

According to the report, the FAA’s models for determining air traffic controller staffing needs are suitable for developing initial estimates of the number of controllers required at terminal areas and airport towers, but the models used for the centers controlling aircraft en route between airports can be improved. In addition, as a matter of priority, the FAA should collaborate with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association to develop and implement an enhanced tool for all facilities that is capable of creating efficient controller work schedules that incorporate fatigue mitigation strategies.

The report recommends that the FAA analyze a wide range of data, such as accident and incident reports and voluntary reports by controllers, to identify relationships between staffing and safety. In addition, the controller workforce should be involved in staffing decisions, particularly as knowledge emerges about relevant safety issues. The FAA also should ensure that staffing continues to be appropriate as it implements the new air traffic operations environment associated with the Next Generation Transportation System, a modernization initiative to shift air traffic management from ground-based radar to a satellite system, the report says.

A press release on the report is available for download.

A report summary has been published in TR News 297.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!