Regulations and Government
FAA Improves Monitoring, but ATC Tower Staffing Lags
Audit makes three recommendations to improve monitoring
an air traffic control tower
© USAF

The FAA restructured its federal contract tower (FCT) program and expanded controller training initiatives, but the program remained understaffed by 276 controllers, or roughly 18%, as of last April, according to a recent Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG) audit. The report examines the agency’s actions to improve monitoring of air traffic controller staffing levels and evaluated training requirements affecting staffing.

Three recommendations were made: develop a process to validate hours worked and recover overpayments; evaluate the impact of training and retention initiatives on the FCT hiring pool and implement improvements; and collaborate with contractors and stakeholders to explore alternative approaches to expand the controller hiring pool.