Air Traffic Controllers Retirement

Considers S. 1629, and similar S. 2988, to qualify air traffic controllers for early retirement benefits due to stressful working conditions.

This report identifies potential scenarios for future air traffic controller attrition and the Federal Aviation Agency's (FAA) plans for dealing with such attrition. Because of the significant hiring in the early 1980s to replace strikers who had been fired, many thousands of FAA's controllers will soon become eligible to retire, potentially leaving FAA with too few fully trained controllers. This report: (1) identifies likely future attrition scenarios for FAA's controller workforce, and (2) examines FAA's strategy for responding to its short- and long-term staffing needs, including how it plans to address the challenges it may face. Charts and tables.