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Turnover turmoil buffets air-control system
Other efficiencies disputed
So at the same time that it is spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year developing NextGen, the FAA is trying to squeeze more efficiency out of its current system:
- One of the measures is a controversial program to split the duties of controllers at airports so they work either the radar facility or the control tower, but not both. That’s how it’s worked at some airports for years, but the FAA didn’t implement the policy nationwide until January. With fewer work stations to master, controllers should be able to certify at a faster pace. But it also means the FAA needs more controllers, because not all of them will be able to work all stations.
- The agency is consolidating traffic control systems at some major facilities, including Washington Center, where this month’s shutdown occurred. In the last two years, Washington Center’s “airspace boundaries” have broadened — in other words, the total airspace controlled by the facility, which used to be spread over eight regions, is now divided into seven larger regions, meaning an individual controller has a bigger area to keep track of.
- And it hopes to centralize weather forecasting offices now spread across 20 regional traffic centers into two locations. The FAA says the consolidation, which it will test in a nine-month trial before making a final decision, should provide more consistent information to en-route controllers. But controllers said they feared they would lose valuable time placing calls to a central site for weather advice rather than consulting on-site meteorologists, as they do now.
Jones, the FAA spokeswoman, insisted that the agency’s priority was safety and said all systems went through rigorous testing and checks before being used in directing air traffic.
Recession gives FAA an opening
Federal officials, the controllers union and independent experts all say the FAA has a window of opportunity to make more rapid advances during the recession. Airlines cut more than 8 percent of their flight volume last year, taking some of the load off the system.
“What’s saving us is traffic is down from economy,” said Forrey of the controllers union. “This is the 21st century, and we need to get this technology into the 21st century.”
Headley, the man behind the annual aviation ratings, said getting NextGen off the ground sooner would inconvenience fewer fliers and allow airlines and passengers to start seeing the benefits earlier.
“We’re kind of at a lull in the action, so to speak,” said Headley, who projected that the number of passenger flights would fall by 8 percent to 9 percent more this year, to its lowest level since 2001. “It’s time to take a hard look at that and try things out as quickly as possible.”
The Transportation Department agrees. LaHood, the new transportation secretary, says NextGen is one of the department’s top priorities. It should be, the department’s inspector general said in a report in April that urged the FAA to “move beyond planning and advance NextGen.”
“It needs to get better,” Headley said. Otherwise, he warned, as current facilities age and the FAA falls behind in certifying controllers, “something bad is going to happen.”
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