Durbin Calls for I.G. Investigation Into Air Traffic Controller Fatigue at O'Hare Airport

Press Release

Durbin Calls for I.G. Investigation Into Air Traffic Controller Fatigue at O'Hare Airport

In a meeting with the nominee for Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Robert Sturgell, US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced that he is calling for an immediate investigation into air traffic controller conditions, including staffing levels and fatigue, at Chicago air traffic facilities. Durbin's announcement comes just days after a national study on runway safety revealed that O'Hare International Airport had the second-highest number of near-collisions on its runways of any U.S. airport between 2001 and 2006. The report cited air traffic controller fatigue as a matter of concern and a key issue affecting runway safety.

"Controllers in the Chicago area are retiring at increasing rates and it is clear that the FAA does not have a plan for the future," said Durbin. "Now the report has backed up what I've been hearing directly from air traffic controllers- low staffing levels are contributing to controller fatigue and making our runways less safe. It's time to go into these facilities, start asking tough questions and do everything in our power to make air traffic safer."

The report, released on December 5 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), included troubling information regarding FAA's handling of runway safety, particularly the passengers flying into O'Hare airport. As demand for air travel is increasing rapidly, the air traffic system is expected to handle an estimated 1 billion passengers per year by 2015. GAO's findings of FAA's lack of coordinated runway safety efforts, lack of data, cost overruns, and delays in implementing safety equipment are particularly troubling in the face of increasing aviation traffic.

In Chicago, there have been reports of controller errors, fatigue, long working hours, increasing retirements, staffing shortages and a growing shortage of certified controllers. The three main air traffic facilities in the Chicago area that are operating with low staff levels will be included in the Inspector General investigation requested by Durbin. The O'Hare Tower is currently operating with 53.5% of the staff level that was agreed to by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) and the FAA in 1998. The Chicago Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) in Elgin is operating at 74%. Finally, the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center in Aurora is operating at its lowest staffing level in 14 years and at the end of the year, there will be more than 100 certified controllers eligible to retire.

Immediately following today's meeting, Durbin sent a letter to the Inspector General at the Department of Transportation, Calvin Scovel, formally requesting an investigation into air traffic controller staffing and fatigue at the major Chicago air traffic control facilities. "The issues raised in the recent GAO report warrant an investigation into the staffing practices and fatigue of air traffic controllers handling the nation's busiest, most complex airspace," wrote Durbin.

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