BNA ground delay sheds light on larger problem of nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers

Kori Johnson
·1 min read
3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A ground delay at Nashville International Airport (BNA) impacted travelers for about an hour Thursday.

It’s shining a light on an even larger problem – air traffic control is understaffed.

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Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said they were short 3,000 controllers across the country. In a statement to News 2, FAA officials said:

“The BNA tower has 31 fully certified controllers and another nine trainees. The tower is authorized to have 39 controllers. Prior to becoming fully certified at the tower, the trainees were previously certified at other FAA facilities. Trainees are able to work some positions there on their own, without supervision, as soon as they demonstrate they’re proficient on those positions.“

Robert Fowler with Middle Tennessee State University’s aviation school told News 2 there are a lot of factors that go into understaffing at towers across the country.

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“It’s the time that it takes to train them; it is the failure rate in training; roughly about 50% of the candidates fail out of the initial training, and then some then fail when they’re training in their facilities as new air traffic controllers. So even if they hire 2,000 air traffic controllers, you’re not going to see 2,000 air traffic controllers taking positions right away,” said Fowler, who is an assistant professor with MTSU’s Aerospace Department. “The FAA does allow air traffic controllers to transfer from one tower to another, but it’s a very difficult process, not easy for an air traffic controller to transfer from one facility to another, so there isn’t a lot of flexibility as far as moving personnel around.”

Another factor in nationwide understaffing is the strict age requirements. You can’t apply to be a controller until you’re 35 years old and must retire by the age of 56.

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