Details about this story

• Source: Louisville Courier-Journal
• Date: December 17, 2006
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: James R. Carroll , Nicole Gaudiano
• Topics: Safety , Transportation
• Data Types: Federal Data
• Description/Excerpt: Nearly 1,100 fewer air traffic controllers are guiding planes through the nation's skies than three years ago, even though flights are increasing. Atlanta's tower is understaffed, for example, but towers in St. Louis and Pittsburgh, where some airlines have either stopped or reduced operations, are overstaffed, Sturgell said. The FAA did not provide facility-by-facility staffing levels. But staffing numbers the union provided to Gannett News Service and The Courier-Journal show that towers or radar facilities in Northern California, Dallas, Detroit, New York, Washington-Dulles and other high-volume locations are moving airplanes with as few as 69 percent to 76 percent of the number of controllers that the FAA and the union agreed constituted full staffing in 2003, the most recent benchmark.
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