STAFFING SHORTAGES CAUSE SHUTDOWN IN PHILADELPHIA

Details: Published: July 18, 2013

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Staffing shortages at Philadelphia International Airport resulted in a 30-minute ground stop and numerous delays Tuesday morning. The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS), the union that represents systems specialists and technicians who repair and certify air traffic control equipment, warned that this is an indication of future events if the FAA continues to cut staffing at major airports.

Systems specialists first detected a problem with the Instrument Landing System (ILS) – a system that provides an approach path for exact alignment and descent of an aircraft on final approach to the runway – over the weekend. The installation of a new part made the problems worse, eventually causing a complete shutdown of service that continued through Monday.

“The systems specialists on duty Sunday had already worked a 20-hour shift when the manager told them to go home,” said Rick White, a systems specialist and PASS representative who works at Philadelphia International. “Because of staffing shortages here, there was nobody to relieve them when they left.”

The ILS remained out of service all day Monday. It did not pose a problem until 5:10 a.m. Tuesday when inclement weather and poor visibility forced controllers to issue a ground stop – something that could have been avoided had the ILS system been functioning.

“The FAA cannot continue to gamble with safety and efficiency by cutting the staff needed to ensure smooth operations,” said Mike Perrone, national vice president of PASS. “It is outrageous that a ground stop had to happen because it could have been avoided had there been adequate staff on duty in the first place.”

“This problem is not going to go away,” said White. “People are retiring or being called to active military duty and the FAA is not hiring new people. As the staffing problems get worse, so will the service interruptions, causing definite inconvenience and potential risks to the flying American public.”

Staffing shortages at Baltimore-Washington International and Reagan National Airports have resulted in similar situations. In addition, staffing shortages in Chicago caused a radar outage at O’Hare that resulted in 193 delays at the world’s busiest airport. The cuts in staffing at airports increase the chances of future outages and lengthier delays, as well as threatening the public safety.

###

PASS represents more than 11,000 employees of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense who install, maintain, support and certify air traffic control and national defense equipment, inspect and oversee the commercial and general aviation industries, develop flight procedures and perform quality analyses of the aviation systems. For more information, visit the PASS website at www.passnational.org.