…And FAA Counts Controllers’ Shortcomings

Meanwhile, the stress between controllers and the FAA is evident at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) on Long Island, where the FAA recently counted errors occurring at six times the average rate, The New York Times reported on Saturday. NATCA says that’s because the FAA has cut back on staffing, but the FAA says it’s because it has increased supervision at the center and now errors are being caught that were previously unreported. With new oversight at the TRACON, controllers are now spending four and a half hours per shift at their screens, up from 3 hours and 39 minutes, and overtime expenses are down by $50,000 a week, the Times said.