A federal shutdown, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, would occur “exactly at the wrong time” as the department attempts to alleviate the chronic air traffic controller shortfall.
Although the Federal Aviation Administration has been working to train additional controllers, Buttigieg warned that a government shutdown at the end of the month will “stop us in our tracks” even though the Department of Transportation has met its hiring targets for air traffic controllers this year.
Current tower controllers would continue to operate during a government shutdown, but training for new controllers at the FAA facility in Oklahoma would be suspended.
2,600 air traffic controllers are now undergoing training. A shutdown of the government would halt such instruction. Because of how complicated that training is, even a brief shutdown may force us to go behind schedule by many months or more, Buttigieg said on Wednesday at a hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. When the numbers for the air traffic control crew are finally moving in the correct direction, we cannot afford that kind of politically motivated disturbance.
As it recovers from the lows of the pandemic, the aviation industry is still working to handle the noticeable increase in air travel.
The number of licensed controllers in the region is “insufficient” to handle typical traffic levels, so the FAA last week stated it will renew a waiver that permits airlines to fly fewer & larger planes to New York City airports.
Chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board Jennifer Homendy stated earlier this year that the sector was “ramping back up” following the pandemic, which caused a number of individuals to either retire or be laid off. “There will soon be a new workforce, and they need to have the proper, necessary training. It’s also necessary to retrain those people who were absent during the outbreak.
Despite having more aircraft and people in the air, the United States now has 1,200 fewer fully qualified controllers than it did ten years ago, according to the National Air Traffic Controller Association.
A federal shutdown is possible if Congress does not enact spending bills by September 30. By passing a stop-gap funding plan to keep the government funded past the Sept. 30 deadline, leaders in both parties are indicating an increased willingness to push out the funding deadline until later this year.