The Federal Aviation Administration has not done enough to improve how air traffic controllers handle emergency situations, an independent watchdog reported Friday.
An inspector general’s report on the FAA’s response to major air traffic control disruptions showed the agency tried to improve its processes in the wake of a major fire in Chicago in 2014 that cost $350 million to “aviation stakeholders and airlines.” The 2014 fire at the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center destroyed critical FAA communications infrastructure and caused thousands of flights to be canceled or rerouted because air traffic controllers couldn’t communicate with planes, causing problems at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport.
But today, air traffic controllers still aren’t being trained thoroughly in emergency situations and communications issues persist, according to the report.
“While FAA has made progress in establishing new efficiency goals and working to achieve them, it is clear that more work is needed to better position the agency to respond to disruptions and meet the expectations of Congress, commercial customers, and the flying public,” the report stated. “Until FAA strengthens its controller training and implements policies and procedures for transferring traffic within all airspace, the agency will continue to face challenges to restoring operations quickly following unexpected events.”
In the time since that Chicago fire, the FAA created a central office to manage contingency plans, implemented efficiency targets to make sure flight activity didn’t drop off again in similar situations, and assessed 71 facilities for potential problems. However, the report cited several issues should be improved.
In addition to a lack of training, the FAA continues to have equipment and logistical support problems, air traffic control systems don’t have enough redundancy in order to have fall back options if something goes wrong, and technology the FAA counts on solving its problems is still years away in the NextGen reform system.
Republican Reps. Bill Shuster and Frank LoBiondo, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure and the Aviation Subcommittee chairman of the same committee respectively, requested the report.
Shuster said the FAA’s bureaucracy is blocking the proper reforms needed to prevent more issues in the future.
“Aviation system inefficiency and delays cost passengers and the economy over $30 billion every year, but unfortunately, the FAA’s chronic inability to modernize air traffic services technology is also negatively impacting their ability to address major operational disruptions and reduce delays,” Shuster said. “This report adds to the sea of evidence supporting the need for real reform in modernizing and managing air traffic services, and letting the FAA focus on its safety mission.”
Lobiondo added the FAA’s reactive attitude is costing taxpayers.
“This attitude has significant economic costs to consumers, the aviation industry and the federal government,” he said. “This GAO report underscores the systemic issues at FAA and reinforces the changes the Aviation Subcommittee has been pushing the agency to make.”
