Ky. Crash Revives Staffing Dispute

Top FAA officials said they needed the contract to better manage controllers and handle new air traffic demands while also reining in costs.

The old contract, which was reached in 1998, made it difficult for supervisors to manage facilities because it gave too much authority to the unions, which were allowed to set some workplace rules and schedules, FAA officials said.

The contract also required hiring increases during its five-year term, even though air traffic dropped after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

"It had nothing to do with traffic levels," said Marion C. Blakey, the FAA administrator. "It was a pretty arbitrary figure. We have to be more nimble."

In ditching national staffing requirements, the FAA is relying on detailed studies of operations at towers and other facilities to determine how many people are needed on different shifts, said Russell G. Chew, the agency's chief operating officer.

In the last three years, the FAA has not noticed any drop in controllers' performance, Chew said, citing statistics that show error rates have remained fairly stable.

Officials are also closely tracking the number of retirements to ensure that they have enough controllers to keep pace, Chew said.

FAA plans to hire 12,000 controllers in the next eight years. More than 3,000 applicants are in the pipeline to be hired, Chew said.

Pilots' groups said they worry that the FAA might be cutting staff too much in an effort to reduce costs. Those reductions could lead to mistakes, the pilots said.

"We are concerned today that the staffing issue is becoming more critical," said Larry Newman, chairman of the air traffic services group for the Air Line Pilots Association.