FAA managers say air traffic control oversight lacking Management cuts and pay inequity in the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control operations are contributing to declining safety in the skies, representatives of agency managers testified at a House hearing Wednesday. The resulting lack of management oversight has led to increased operational errors, they said.
Operational errors occur when two airplanes fly too close to each other in the air.
Such errors increased by 51 percent from fiscal 1996 to fiscal 2000. Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead weighed in on the issue in a January report . FMA recommended that Congress increase supervisory and support staff at air traffic facilities to stem the rise in operational errors. They also recommended increased funding for FAA s operations budget and pay parity in FAA s compensation system. Robert Kerner and Keith DeBerry, representatives of Professional Airways Systems Specialists, an organization of FAA safety inspectors, testified at the hearing that staffing shortages and inadequate funding for training and on-site inspections make it harder for safety inspectors to do their jobs well.