The airline industry is sounding the alarm about a potential long-term air traffic controller shortage that could disrupt flights for years. As air travel rebounds to pre-pandemic levels, airlines are expecting a massive uptick in passengers and flights worldwide. However, due to the global pandemic, millions of air traffic controllers have retired, resigned, or taken leave in the last year, exacerbating an already existing shortage of controllers and threatening to significantly slow down air traffic operations across the globe.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the shortage of air traffic control professionals has already exceeded 14,000 across the world, with a number of controllers due to retire in the decades ahead. Citing a “perilous” controller situation, IATA Director General Willie Walsh recently warned of potential delays and other safety issues if the controller shortage issue is not addressed quickly.
The situation has been further complicated by the impact of the pandemic on air traffic controllers, a situation that has been described as an “epidemic in the sky.” After the pandemic hit, many air traffic controllers had to take leave or retire due to health concerns. In addition, there have been difficulties in recruiting new controllers and in providing training to new controller graduates, who were unable to practices at many air traffic control towers.
Despite these dire predictions, there is some hope for the future. Airlines and air traffic control providers are looking for solutions to the controller shortage problem. Some are advocating for greater investment in technology, such as automated air traffic controller systems, which could relieve some of the burden off of human controllers, while still ensuring safety and efficiency. Other solutions include partnering with universities and other educational institutions to increase recruiting and training of air traffic controllers.
Whichever solutions are decided upon, it is clear that airlines and other aviation stakeholders must act quickly to avert a potential long term crisis of air traffic controller shortages that could severely disrupt air travel in the years ahead.
