Investigators with the NTSB remain concerned, and are examining staffing issues as they probe serious near-collisions on the tarmac over the past year. FAA officials said they are closely monitoring stresses to the aviation system and encouraging more reporting from employees. Current and former air-traffic controllers said they are frustrated with what they see as the FAA’s failure to prepare for losing employees as they reach the mandatory retirement age of 56. About 40% of facilities meet the 85% controller staffing level the FAA strives for, according to FAA staffing data viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Staffing issues are often hard to tie directly to chains of events that lead to incidents and accidents, veteran crash investigators say.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 19, 2023 11:30 UTC