Austin City Council to vote on resolution regarding air traffic controller shortage

Air traffic controller shortage at Austin airport

The City of Austin is urging the FAA to do more to help with the shortage of air traffic controllers at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

AUSTIN, Texas - The City of Austin is urging the FAA to do more to help with the shortage of air traffic controllers at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

Council members will vote on a resolution at Thursday's Council meeting. 

The council also addressed how Texas does not have a single in-state air traffic control training program.

Air traffic controller shortage in Austin

Austin's airport only has 29 air traffic controllers when there should be 60, according to U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett.

"The FAA has not taken the steps necessary to get us more air traffic controllers," he said.

The airport has seen multiple ground delays and near-misses in the past year.

AUS talks expansion, air traffic controller issues

Less staff in air traffic control towers could affect summer travel. It's already been an issue in Austin, which has less than half of the air traffic controllers than it should have. Officials are still pushing for the FAA to get them more.

"My concern has always been that, after six near misses, six near catastrophes, that the FAA will wait until we have a seventh actual catastrophe before acting, and we will keep pushing them with this resolution and otherwise to do their job," Doggett said.

The resolution, sponsored by Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes, urges the FAA to improve the air traffic control shortage and calls on them to prioritize Austin for the transfer of more controllers.

The resolution reads in part:

"The City Manager is directed to collaborate with the FAA and Austin Community College to explore participation in the AT-CTI and the establishment of an Air Traffic Controller Academy, with the goal of building a local workforce pipeline for air traffic control careers."

Flights delayed at Austin airport due to ground delay

The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was under a ground delay for hours on Wednesday. It comes as the nation is struggling to find air traffic controllers to fill vacancies.

Right now, if someone in Austin wants to be an air traffic controller, they would have to go out of state. The FAA Academy is in Oklahoma City. There are only a handful of colleges across the country that have the Air Traffic - College Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program.

Doggett calls this a long-range solution.

"It would be appropriate, as innovative as ACC is in meeting other needs like semiconductors and software, that they be considered for training air traffic controllers also," Doggett said.

Dig deeper:

The FAA recently announced the latest results of their supercharge hiring initiative.

"I will believe it when I see the air traffic controllers come to our airport," Doggett said.

He also recommends location-based incentive pay and says there needs to be a solution as soon as possible.

"We need more air traffic controllers next month, next week, and I hope the city resolution will be responded to favorably by the FAA," he said.

FAA response

The FAA says they will respond directly to any formal communication from the Austin City Council. 

In a statement, they say:

"Safety is the FAA's number one priority. When there are staffing constraints, the FAA will adjust an air traffic control tower or facility's staffing to cover high-volume air traffic periods. We may also implement traffic management initiatives, such as slowing air traffic into the airport.

The public can get the latest information on staffing and operations in general at all airports at www.fly.faa.gov.  You can find staffing numbers in the ATC Workforce Plan 2024-2033. We plan to issue an update soon.

During the latest Supercharge hiring campaign that closed on March 17, we received more than 10,000 applications. More than 8,300 of those were referred to testing. Our focus is to get the best and the brightest into the academy and make sure every seat is filled for the upcoming classes."