Doggett urges action to address string of near misses between aircraft at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett this week urged the Federal Aviation Administration to respond to a string of near misses at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with increased air traffic controller staffing levels.

In a letter to acting FAA Administrator Polly Trottenberg, Doggett expressed his concern regarding “continued air traffic control safety lapses at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) and respectfully urge you to take swift and forceful action to address the root causes of these ongoing issues, which endanger the traveling public,” Doggett wrote.

Doggett refers to a November near miss between a Southwest aircraft and an American Airlines aircraft; a February incident involving a FedEx plane and a Southwest plane; and an April incident in which a SkyWest jet was routed to ascend into the path of a descending Southwest plane. In June, the FAA announced it would investigate a close call between an Allegiant Air aircraft and a small plane in its proximity.

These instances have been the subject of reporting in The Washington Post and The New York Times, which published a report on the February incident, saying it could have resulted in the deaths of 131 people. An FAA spokesperson told the Times that the incident “should have never happened” and that the agency had implemented new required training to “reinforce current procedures at the facility.”

The letter notes that the FAA recently released details of a Sept. 23 incident, in which the routing of a military F/A-18 jet caused a NetJets Cessna Citation to take evasive action, as well as on the ground coming into close proximity to a small propeller-powered aircraft preparing for takeoff.

“From both these press reports and my discussions with local air traffic controllers, ABIA air traffic controller staffing levels are inadequate to safely handle the growing level of traffic our airport is experiencing,” Doggett wrote. “This poses a public threat which should be immediately addressed.”

Doggett says the airport’s volume of takeoffs, landings and nearby air traffic has increased 30 percent from pre-Covid levels. Since September 2022, ABIA has qualified as a “large hub” because it accounts for more than 1 percent of total boardings in the National Airport System.

Despite the increased traffic, ABIA’s controller staffing has remained at 40 percent below the target level set jointly by the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. More than 70 percent of ABIA shifts are running below FAA guidelines for appropriate staffing.

“Such short staffing leads to exhaustion and unsafe working conditions, with controllers routinely working 6-day weeks and amassing hundreds of hours of overtime with no end in sight,” Doggett wrote.

Doggett noted that the U.S. House of Representatives recently approved H.R. 3935, the FAA reauthorization act, which, if passed by the U.S. Senate, would lead to safety reforms. Those reforms include mandating the FAA to adopt a new staffing model.

“While these legislative changes will be welcome, I do not believe ABIA can wait for its enactment and implementation,” Doggett writes. “The FAA should take immediate action to improve the safety of the traveling public at ABIA.”

Doggett’s requests include:

• designating ABIA as a “level 10 terminal” facility, which will allow it to bring in more resources and increase controller pay
• granting ABIA priority consideration in future rounds of transfers facilitated by the National Centralized Employee Requested Reassignment Process Team until the airport’s controller staffing levels have increased
• allowing an operational supervisor/controller-in-charge to provide oversight without working flight data/clearance delivery
• providing a minimum of 12 hours of on-the-job training to each certified professional controller each week
• upgrading the airspace levels surrounding ABIA by either extending the boundaries of Class Charlie Airspace or even upgrading the surrounding airspace to Class Bravo, “thereby tripling the amount of protected airspace around ABIA and mitigating controller workload by reducing the amount of traffic flying in close proximity to the airport without a requirement to inform air traffic controllers of their position”

In a Monday press statement, Doggett continued, “Multiple near-miss incidents at our airport are totally unacceptable. We need action before lives are lost in a costly disaster. With continuing rapid growth in the number of passengers and flights at our airport, the FAA should urgently address ongoing air traffic controller issues to increase traveler safety and support overwhelmed staff. I remain committed to seeking more federal resources for our community to strengthen public safety and ABIA’s standing as an international gateway for people and businesses alike.”

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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