European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 9, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Contralto thu dying tenant in the attn room of Tow Boston air pouts thic control Center in Nashua . The Industry said in interviews Hal mistakes miscalculations and to some extent Plain stubbornness have been at Iho hear of the confirming air  problems they Cile As examples a failure by the Faa to grasp the effect of airline deregulation on the air traffic control system despite signs As Early As 1964 that airline in attic numbers and patterns were changing dramatically. A belief by senior and mid level Faa officials Hal the recovery plan so successful during the first iwo a years. Was on Targal. Critics say they paid Loo Little attention la us shortcomings. An unswerving belief that there Ware far Loo Many controllers before the strike causing planners to Leonsis Henlly understate Post strike staffing r requirements. An excessive Reliance on upcoming automation that had been expected to begin easing controller workloads toward the end of this decade but which now has been delayed in at least the mid-1990s e pressures to reduce the Federal deficit which put a lid on Faa spending a i a Lime when the recovery should have proceeded at full Speed to meet future demands pressure from fhe while House to make the 3. System work without Rehing any at the fired control Lars. They were caught in an ideological mud  says sen Frank Lautenberg. 0-n j. Who has fought to have some fired controllers brought Back while the Faa should have planned three and four years ago Lor the needs of 1966-87. In pics say. They gust 9, 1987 focused on Short Range requirements and need an increasing stingy White House if ing to Lind ways to Roll Back the Federal deficit the pressure to rebuild the air traffic control system had eased two years after the strike it seems to to we Are paying the Price today of five years of neglect says sen. Wendell Ford. Day chairman of the aviation Subco Milice but Ford acknowledged Congress May also have been fooled. Don t know if we be been stonewalled bul they be always said the air traffic control system is adequate it s Safe. So How do you refuse it in june transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole in a Sharp reversal acknowledged Hal at least another 955 controllers will have to be hired. Less Ihan a month earlier Faa officials had argued on Capitol Hill against legislation calling for a controller increase bul the new controllers called Lor by Secretary Dole won t be of much use until 1989. Or perhaps even Laler. Say the experts meanwhile the shortfalls Musl be made up by overtime about 120.000 hours Worth i his year and in the continuing develop men of trainees already in the pipeline. Thai Means Many sin Day workweeks or a sixth straight year for Many con Rolle sat the busiest facilities Al last count. Iacre Are 15.t 15 people m the controller work Force but As of May Only 11. F 88 of them Are actually handling traffic the Rosl Are still in training or working As controller assistants before the Striko there were 16,375 controllers Wilh 25 percent Lew planes in the air tha number of fully trained controllers has been stuck around the 9.500 Mark since last year compared to 13.300 before the strike. From october to May the number of so called Fps Conli Ollers increased by Only 27 and the number of controllers handling Ai frail actually declined by nearly 100 while now controllers Complete training apparently More choose to retire or Are shifted 1o Short staffed supervisory or traffic management chores meanwhile the volume of traffic continues to build and Avi Atran safety exports contend the slam on the system has begun to take its loll on controller performance they cite some warning signals errors by controllers in which aircraft arc allowed to come Loo close jumped 50 percent in june and has been on the increase Over the first six months of the year Alicr a steady decline last year near collision reports filed by pools increased by Neaily 40 percent during the first live month of the year. Actual collisions involving a commercial air earner have become More frequent although still exceedingly rare. After seven years without such a collision there were three in a Span of 17 months Between 1985 and fast january. Citing increases in the number of controller errors and rear collision reports the National transportation safely Board called for a curtailment of flights As the Busy summer travel season unfolded the Faa is trying to run he system up to the red line. We need to run the system on Cool instead of  Nosb chairman Jim Burnett declared the Faa accused the Nosb of overreacting and insisted its methods assuring air safety were adequate the Agency acknowledged however that As Many As 125 of 652 air Ira tic control sectors airspace under the responsibility of a single of team of controllers could become saturated in not watched closely. Senior Faa officials argue that comparisons before and Afler the strike Are meaningless because the Agency has streamlined the air traffic control system throw ugh tighter management of traffic flow you have the right number of people out i hero. Us nol Al the right level of training at it is Point maintains Norb Crl Owens assistant director of air traffic of the Faa. To were overstaffed in 1981. There s no question Aboul  to handle More air planes with fewer controllers he Faa developed a cadre of iral fic managers who direct the flow of air traffic so a controller is not overrun by an Onrush of planes. As a result fewer controllers can direct More aircraft Owens says. Bul critics contend the system works boiler on paper Ihan in real life. Without enough experienced controllers Many of the traffic manager positions have gone unfilled a congressional invest ligation concluded and supervisors who Are supposed to Lul fill similar duties too often Are still directing air planes the safeguards provided by the traffic managers and supervisors. Were not found in be reliable for assuring that controllers Are nol laced with More traffic than Thoy can safely handle says Herbert Mclure an investigator Lor the general accounting of dec which has conducted numerous probes into the Workings of fhe air traffic control system for members i Congress meanwhile. Ira flip has mushroomed during the last tour years from 5 million i lights in 19b3 loan estimated 6 7 million flights this year by regularly scheduled airlines alone controllers handle Lens of thousands of other air Rall As Well before Donald Efigeni became Faa Dammis Ralar in april 1984, controllers had handled More than 00.000 i lights a Day on Only three occasions anal year 1984 Uherc were30 such Days Engen said in 1986 there were 140 such Days and this year i estimate it will be Well in excess of 200 Days in his departing remarks As head of the Faa. Engen acknowledged last month that to would liked 10 have seen the a r traffic control system rebuilt More quickly technically say Faa managers the air iral fic system recovered from the 1981 strike on schedule in 1984, when controllers began directing the same number of aircraft handled before the strike then the airlines changed the nature of the game. They contend there was no Way of anticipating the kind of scheduling and the and of growth the system came Back of bul iral fic growth us  says Owens the Faasino 2 Man in the air iral fic Branch bul some a Perls familiar will the recovery Ellort dug Cal Faa should have Loresen As Early As 1984 that air Ira flip growth was going to increase substantially and Hal the nature of the airline Industry was changing rapidly the stars and stripes Page is