Originally published at: One Controller at Miami Tower: Air Traffic Control Crisis
Guest Post: Unpaid and overworked air traffic controllers strain to keep America’s skies safe amid the shutdown.
Thanks to all those who stuck it out while waiting to get paid. To those who were unable to show up for work, I understand. Someone has to pay for all the bills that show up. Even transportation costs money whether in gasoline to power a personal vehicle or mass transportation. If you don’t have the funds it’s a little difficult to show up unless you want to walk to work. I think the president’s and Secretary Duffy’s comments on those who were unable to show are completely out of line. Once again thanks to those who kept the system running. I am a charter pilot and have had no complaints with those who worked during what had to be a difficult period for everyone.
The old saying goes “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.”
Preventing a recurrence means re-imagining everything — including privatizing ATC and TSA. The funding stream under government oversight is fragile by which service interruptions will happen whenever diametrically opposed viewpoints crop up in Congress.
Pay interruptions are considered “leverage”, according to some members of congress. This is no way to run things.
Turning adversity into opportunity is what makes us special. Now is the time to forge ahead with privatization.
Why not privatize the whole ATC system? Two of the airports including my home field are privatized and didn’t miss a paycheck.
As a former controller, this sounds like a broken record. Nearly 15 years ago, we faced exactly the same issues. I worked 6-day workweeks (scheduled overtime) on a regular basis, and stand-alone shifts when I was literally the only person in the building for up to 4 hours at a time. If you had to pee, you’d use an empty cup/bottle or you’d run to the restroom when there was a break in traffic, then when you got back, you’d transmit, “Calling XXX tower/approach, say again…” and hopefully nobody would answer. I even remember one colleague telling a story about when he just did his business in the garbage can while working. The recent shutdown without pay exacerbates the issue, but this is by no means a new problem. There’s only one permanent solution… hire people… more than are needed, because half of them won’t certify.
The tower at Oshkosh for several weeks of the year with no incidents and with minimum controller input. It deals with a significant percent of pilots who don’t know what to do and or are flustered and barely manage.
You tell me a groupd of highly trained pilots flying the latest gear, with TCAS, ADSB and still have eyeballs can’t figure out how to get in and out of an airport.
My understanding is ADSB was supposed to shift control from the ground to the air?
What happened?
Air traffic control privatization, especially in airline-dominated, user-fee models, tends to favor the interests of the airlines over general aviation. The United States has by far the largest GA sector in the world, partly because operating GA here is relatively affordable. No ATC user fees for most operations, abundant airports, and a large used-aircraft market combined with a regulatory and cultural environment that encourages private flying. That’s also why the U.S. is one of the world’s major pilot-training hubs: many foreign students come here because flight training is often cheaper and more accessible than in their home countries. GA and small training operators form a crucial pipeline for airline pilots and aviation mechanics. According to FAA’s 2022 economic impact report, GA contributes roughly $66 billion per year to U.S. GDP, compared to about $216 billion from airline operations, so GA is on the order of a third of the airlines’ GDP contribution. And if you want a real-world comparison, talk to GA pilots in Canada or Europe: under corporatized, user-fee ATC systems, they face higher fixed costs and more user charges than U.S. pilots, and many will tell you GA is harder to afford and grow there than it is in the U.S.
When I reported on duty as an air traffic controller developmental after the strike, my facility had one journeyman, 4 supervisors and a tower manger, and a bunch of newbies that didn’t know much. The facility manager conducted OJT at least two hours a day. They went by the Marines creed that everyone is a rifleman first and something else second. Since probably 95% or more of FAA staff and management comes from the controller ranks, these folks should also be manning the boards. That’s what management did during my time in the FAA, and we were always short-staffed my entire career, the only group never short-staffed was management positions. I don’t know how it is now, but that was the way it was in my day. 29 years working, the 5th busiest airport in the country. On my 56th birthday, I applied for a wavier to work on and was denied.
I’m a Canadian GA pilot. I read a lot of negatives about NavCanada, the Not For Profit corporation which runs the Canadian ATC system, in US publications. I will give you my experience. I pay about C$80.00 per year to NavCanada for my C182. This rate varies according to the weight of the aircraft. This gives me unlimited use of their services, all across Canada, Flight Planning, Weather, Enroute contact, Flight Following, and of course SAR services. I have never been refused service, though I have been advised VFR is restricted in the CYVR control zone on occasion, so I go around. This is usually a staffing shortage.
I have flown as far east as Ontario, and received the same excellent service all the way across.
The Board of NavCanada consists 15 people, 4 from commercial aviation, 1 from GA, 3 from the Government of Canada, 2 from the ATC Union, 4 independent members, and the President /CEO of NavCanada.
To learn more their website is Navcanada.ca
By the way, I am not an employee of NavCanada, just a satisfied customer.
Thinking out loud:
Regarding privatization, occasional pain may be better than a daily dose.
Shutdowns: we have data from multiple shutdowns how ATC is impacted but we push the system to its limits. I would propose we consider rolling with it throttling the system at the start. The politicians are incentivized by constituent complaints. We give them a false sense of leverage and endanger lives by pushing the system. Perhaps the shutdown would have ended sooner if ATC services would have impacted the pols’ travels sooner. Perhaps too, the retirement numbers would have been lower. I know the devil’s in the details. Just something to ponder.
Real change will only happen through something radical and simple.
Just tie traffic volume to ATC staffing levels.
Low staff count, low flight count.
The public might be mad, but the airlines will be absolutely pissed. You can bet, funding and staffing will quickly follow.
We operate a Flight School in Canada (Winnipeg). NavCanada provides very poor service. Everything is about the airlines. We are faced with our terminal area being closed for more then 150 days so far in 2025. We are limited in the pattern for more then 80 days this year. (life blood of a flying school). I fly in the states a lot, the current FAA system is far, far better then NavCanada monopoly.
G4381/25 NOTAMN
Q) CZWG/QACCH/IV/NBO/AE/000/030/4955N09714W007
A) CYWG B) 2511142100 C) 2511150230
E) DUE TO REDUCED SYSTEM CAPACITY:
LIMITATIONS IN EFFECT WITHIN THE WINNIPEG/JAMES ARMSTRONG
RICHARDSON INTL (CYWG) CTL ZONE CLASS C AIRSPACE: ALL ACFT
REQUESTED TO REMAIN CLR OF THE CTL ZONE EXC DEP/ARR AND IFR OR
VFR TRAINING CERTIFICATION FLT WITH PPR.
REPETITIVE CIRCUITS NOT AUTH. HOT AIR BALLOON FLT NOT AUTH.
FOR INFO CTC 204-983-8338)
DUE TO REDUCED SYSTEM CAPACITY: VFR TFC IN VANCOUVER TWR CLASS C AND D AIRSPACE IS RESTRICTED TO ARR AND DEP ONLY FROM CAM9 AND DESIGNATED HELIPADS. VFR RWY DEP ARE EXEMPT
DUE TO REDUCED SYSTEM CAPACITY AND ANTICIPATED TFC DEMANDS VFR ACFT MAY ANTICIPATE DLA AND CIRCUIT TRAINING WILL NOT BE AVBL IN PITT MEADOWS TWR CLASS C AIRSPACE.
The president and secretary’s comments are completely “in line.” People accept or decline a job based on the conditions attached to it. One of those for controllers is that they WILL continue to work, and be paid full back pay, in the event of a shutdown.
You can’t take the good without the bad.
The lack of pay during a shutdown has already been pointed out by Secretary Duffy as something that makes it more difficult to recruit candidates for a controller position. Very few individuals will be willing to work without getting paid, no matter how well paid that job is. Sure, the government makes good on back pay once the shutdown ends, but what about paying for the bills that come up? Just because the government can get away with spending money it doesn’t have, doesn’t mean employees are able to do the same.
I get it. But airline crews don’t get to decide to just not come to work because it’s a holiday. That comes with the territory.
Military people don’t just go back home when they’re not paid (and I believe they SHOULD definitely be paid).
If you take the job, you’re obligated, by law AND by character, to follow the conditions of your employment.
I can’t believe no one is saying the obvious part out loud.
Controllers are some of the highest paid folks in the government. Their median wage is $150k per year before overtime, incentive pay, and locality pay. Experienced controllers in major centers can make upwards of $225k per year.
Unless they live under a rock, federal employees understand that shutdowns happen and you need to manage your finances accordingly. Controllers are paid well, are highly skilled, and the safety of our system relies on their judgement, their ability to assess complex dynamic situations and respond with the right decision, every time.
How then can some of these guys not have the judgement to live within their means and manage their liquidity to mitigate the political risk of their chosen career?
Zero sympathy here. The guys who blew off work while their colleagues tried to pick up the slack should go find a new career. Nobody needs that type of cancer on their crew.
Unable to show up for work? WTF does that mean? Unless they were sick or in the hospital, they should be fired! Its the unions mentality to keep ATC hardware archaic to protect job security. As they say “Only we know how to operate 50 yr equipmemt”. Job security … pfft! As mentioned ATC and TSA should be privatized. Better service, cheaper … not to mention hire and fire as needed! Only AmTrac beats ATC to the botton of the barrel of business run so poorly they continue to fail, over and over and over again! Hold EVERY person accountable for their actions … EVERY one …
Damn straight! Fire the deadbeats…
The fact that DOT and the FAA banned general aviation at certain airports during the shutdown proves that the airlines would get preferential treatment in any “privatization” scheme the government would come up with. Just like the system in Canada, and anywhere else ATC is “privatized”.
Convert Washington to a ghost-town…
This presumes that we start the big “deadbeat firing” at the top.
Senate: Gone
Congress: Gone
White House: Gone