Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday that the Department of War has offered to lend military controllers to help ease the growing strain on the nation’s aviation system as the government shutdown continues.
“Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War, texted me yesterday and said, ‘I might have some air traffic controllers. If you could use them, I’m going to offer them to you,’” Duffy told CNN’s Jake Tapper during an interview.
Duffy said the offer may not be feasible since military controllers are not certified in civilian airspace, but added, “If I can, I’m going to use them.”
According to Duffy, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) experienced 81 “staffing triggers” nationwide on Saturday, up from 61 on Oct. 31. Eighteen of 22 controllers at Atlanta’s air traffic facility did not show up, he said, contributing to more than 6,000 delayed flights over the weekend.
“It’s only going to get worse,” Duffy said, warning that by the two weeks before Thanksgiving, “you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.”
There might be a few cases where this would help, but controllers have to be individually certified for whatever facility they’re working in. They have to understand the airspace, the procedures, interactions with neighboring airspace, and the various LOAs that govern traffic moving between different control entities. That certification can take many months.
So, it seems to me that Hegseth’s offer is largely posturing.
There are instances where flight data positions could be supplemented and staffed by non-FPL (full performance level) controllers. These individuals aren’t “keying the mike and issuing control instructions.”
I see no operational problem with that.
FAA controllers called them “air traffic advisors”.