Why It’s So Hard For The FAA To Fix U.S. Air Traffic Control Problems

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The U.S. has a severe shortage of air traffic controllers. The FAA currently has 10,800 certified controllers but a need for 14,633. That’s a shortage of 26%. And recent events like the fatal collision of an Army Blackhawk helicopter and American Airlines regional jet in Washington, D.C. has brought more attention to filling these rolls. The NTSB said there was one person handling both helicopter and airline traffic that night when there would typically would be two controllers. The Federal Aviation Administration said this is not normal but it’s not deemed unsafe. Flights in the New York area, the busiest airspace in the world, have been limited at times because the number of controllers were insufficient. There are also issues of aging technology. In 2023, the FAA announced the Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative, which allows qualified schools to provide equivalent training. CNBC spoke with the FAA, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and visited Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to get a first hand look at how students are being trained in air traffic control.

Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
2:16 - Shortage and hiring
6:32 - New Partnerships
10:23 - Aging Technology
14:30 - What's next

Produced, Shot and Edited by Erin Black
Animation Jason Reginato
Senior Director of Video Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Camera Maggie Petrova
Editorial Support Leslie Josephs

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Why It’s So Hard For The FAA To Fix U.S. Air Traffic Control Problems