FAA Says It Has Met Goal for Controllers

The Federal Aviation Administration today said it now has 14,484 air traffic controllers, reaching the target set by Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole, and plans to hire 500 more.

FAA spokesman Steve Hayes said the work force has 9,352 full-performance-level controllers who are considered experienced.

“We have reached our target,” Hayes said. “Within a year, as promised, we will hire another 500 controllers.”

Some members of Congress and aviation experts have questioned whether the government has enough experienced air traffic controllers, contending that the force is overworked and understaffed, and that that has led to less safe skies. Before the 1981 strike, the system had nearly 13,400 journeyman controllers and about 3,000 trainees.

Rep. Guy V. Molinari (R-N.Y.) and more than 70 of his House colleagues and Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) have urged President Reagan to rehire some of the controllers fired in the 1981 strike.