The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs (2014) / Chapter Skim
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6 Current and Estimated Budgets for Air Traffic Control Staffing
6 Current and Estimated Budgets for Air Traffic Control Staffing
Pages 118-142
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From page 118... ...
These options are presented for illustration only and should not be interpreted as committee recommendations for alternative staffing strategies. The summary section places the cost of the ATC workforce in the context of the larger FAA budget issues facing the administration and Congress.
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From page 119... ...
During FY 2014, the administration revised its forecast of aviation trust fund revenues, which has important consequences for ATC staffing, as described later in this chapter. The funding ultimately appropriated by Congress for ATC for FY 2014 in the Consolidated Appropriation Act corresponds to the President's request, and the amounts for FAA Operations as a whole are consistent.
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From page 120... ...
. The total Operations budget was about $9.4 billion in FY 2013 and about $9.7 billion in FY 2014; ATO's FY 2014 budget of $7.3 billion 3 Although requested staffing levels are available for FY 2015, this chapter refers to FY 2014 staffing levels to be consistent with data presented in previous chapters and with detailed information about the cost of the ATC workforce for 2012 through 2014 provided by FAA; these data are not available in the President's budget submissions.
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From page 121... ...
TABLE 6-3 FAA Operations Appropriation Line Items, FY 2013–2015 Budget ($ thousands) Percentage of FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2014 FY 2015 Total FY 2015 Line Item Actual Requested Enacted Requested Requested ATO 7,270,538 7,331,790 7,331,790 7,396,654 75.9 Aviation Safety 1,217,552 1,204,777 1,204,777 1,215,458 12.5 Commercial Space 15,420 16,311 16,311 16,605 0.2 Transport Finance and Management 551,669 807,646 762,462 765,047 7.8 NextGen 56,989 59,782 59,696 60,089 0.6 Human Resource 93,687 107,193 296,366 a 296,147 a 3.0 Management Staff Offices 189,810 199,801 Total 9,395,665 9,727,300 9,671,402 9,750,000 100 Note: NextGen = Next Generation Air Transportation System.
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From page 122... ...
in 2014. The $2.787 billion for the ATC workforce in 2014 represents about 38 percent of ATO's FY 2014 budget, 29 percent of the Operations budget, and 18 percent of the total FY 2014 FAA budget (see Figure 6-1)
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From page 123... ...
Shares of FAA funding covered by trust fund revenues and by the General Fund in the past and proposed for FY 2015 are shown in Table 6-6. Most federal tax receipts to the General Fund come from individual federal income taxes; thus, loosely speaking, the general taxpaying public is
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From page 124... ...
Source: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/aatf/media/14.1.17Excise TaxStructureCalendar2014.pdf. TABLE 6-6 Trust Fund and General Fund Budget Authority, FAA Operations Budget ($ thousands)
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From page 125... ...
the main source of federal income taxes that are dedicated to the General Fund. The 7.5 percent ticket tax on commercial aviation users provides about 70 percent of the revenues into the AATF (Table 6-7)
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From page 126... ...
1.7 38 54 38 17 Commercial aviation 98.3 62 46 62 83 (Part 121 and 135) Note: TRACON = terminal radar approach control; ARTCC = air route traffic control center.
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From page 127... ...
. For example, if ancillary fees for checked baggage had been subject to taxation, the associated AATF revenue would have been approximately $248 million in 2013.7 The revenue losses associated with tax-exempt fees led the Government Accountability Office to raise the possibility that Congress "may wish to consider amending the Internal Revenue Code to make mandatory the taxation of certain or all airline imposed fees and to require that the revenue be deposited in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund" (GAO 2010, 35)
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From page 128... ...
The ATC workforce is not the only component of the FAA Operations budget that is partly supported by General Fund revenues. ATO received about $3.55 billion in General Fund support in 2013, or about 80 percent of the $4.4 billion in General Funds appropriated for FAA Operations.11 About $1.3 billion in General Fund revenues was used for ATC staffing in FY 2013, or about 37 percent of ATO's total General Fund support and 29 percent of the total General Fund revenues for FAA Operations.
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From page 129... ...
In the President's FY 2015 budget submission, the Treasury forecasts AATF receipts for FY 2018 of $17 billion, which is $1.2 billion more than forecast in the FY 2014 submission. The administration's revised forecasts, if realized, would result in a reversal of the substantial dependence of FAA Operations on the General Fund and substantially ease the budgetary pressure caused by the ATC workforce.
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From page 130... ...
Trust fund revenues have grown substantially in recent years, even though total flights have held steady, because of increasing load factors. With most flights operating close to maximum capacity, however, opportunities for further load factor growth are limited.
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From page 131... ...
rather than the budget for ATC staffing. The administration reports FAA Operations budget authority of about $9.6 billion in 2013, which is estimated to grow to $10.6 billion by 2018.
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From page 132... ...
. The Appendix to the 2015 Analytical Perspectives indicates that the administration expects the General Fund to cover only $709 million of FAA Operations budget authority in FY 2015, and the administration expects the General Fund's contribution to stay below $800 million until 2021.14 If these forecasts hold, the demand for General Fund revenues to cover FAA Operations expenses may not be as significant a budget issue as it has been in the past.
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From page 133... ...
The budgetary savings from an 8 percent cut in ATC staff would be in the range of $223 million (8 percent of $2.787 billion) , which represents about 1.4 percent of FAA's annual budget and only 7 percent of the General Fund revenues proposed for FAA Operations in 2014.
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From page 134... ...
Congress has done so as recently as 2013 to avoid FAA's planned furloughs of ATC staff and the closing of low-activity contract towers in response to the first round of cuts under sequestration. In addition, FAA will be able to reduce the cost of ATC staff in coming years as a consequence of the pending retirement of the large number of controllers hired to replace those fired in the 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike (a lower proportion of the remaining employees will have the most seniority)
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From page 135... ...
The OIG found that of the 315 FAA-operated facilities, about 90 towers had traffic density levels similar to those of contract towers. This implies that, given the average $1.5 million lower annual operating cost of contract towers, FAA could save about $135 million annually by contracting out operation of these towers (90 comparable FAA-operated towers multiplied by the 18 Many contract tower employees are former FAA or military controllers who may be drawing a pension and have less need for a salary comparable with that of controllers in FAA-operated tow ers.
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From page 136... ...
.19 Another cost-saving option for FAA could be to close the lowestactivity towers, including contract towers, although experience suggests that this option would face strong opposition from Congress. In anticipation of the sequester budget cuts, FAA announced its intention to close up to 238 low-activity towers, including 195 contract towers.
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From page 137... ...
However, past consolidations have allowed for reductions in administrative staffing. 20 FAA operates in more than 1,200 facilities -- centers, towers (including contract towers)
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From page 138... ...
This option may offer operational cost savings, although start-up costs could be high and the level of service provided to pilots operating under visual flight rules might be reduced. FAA is investigating technologies for such staffed NextGen towers, and similar initiatives are under way in Scandinavia and Australia.
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From page 139... ...
Air route traffic control center and terminal radar approach control facilities, for example, could be geographically separated from the areas they serve. However, the feasibility of such consolidations and relocations would depend on the availability of funding, the anticipated benefits versus the likely cost, and political considerations.
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From page 140... ...
The assumptions underlying the administration's FY 2015 budget forecasts with regard to growth in AATF revenues are more optimistic than FAA's forecast growth in commercial aviation activity. Illustrative options for managing cost pressures related to the ATC workforce in the event of lower-than-forecast AATF revenues were described, but they would require substantial effort by FAA.
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From page 141... ...
Furthermore, GA is a large consumer of ATC services requiring considerable ATC staffing at lightly used airports. The cost of these controllers is paid for by taxpayers and passengers using commercial aviation rather than by GA users.
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From page 142... ...
2012a. Contract Towers Continue to Provide Safe and Cost-Effective Services, but Improved Oversight of the Program Is Needed.
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