Senator says U.S. must boost air traffic control staffing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chair of a Senate panel overseeing aviation issues said on Thursday the Federal Aviation Administration needs more air traffic controllers to address rising passenger demand.

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who chairs the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee, told Reuters the United States must boost aviation sector staffing.

“We don’t have enough pilots. We don’t have enough maintenance people and we don’t have enough air traffic controllers,” Duckworth said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been deciding how many air traffic controllers to employ by its budget “versus the actual need in terms of the traffic demands,” she added.