The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the union that represents air traffic controllers agreed to a deal on workforce changes in return for a much-anticipated 2.8% pay increase.
Under the new agreement with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, controllers will be required to “badge in” and “badge out” of their facilities. Local managers and union representatives will also build shifts around expected workload and operational requirements to “maximize coverage during peak traffic hours,” the Transportation Department said October 16 in a news release announcing the deal.
In addition, the department said controller reassignments will focus on locations where staffing needs are most severe.
Bloomberg previously reported that the two sides were discussing a number of potential changes as part of the negotiations, including staggering shifts to create more staff overlap during peak travel times and limiting leave slots available on historically high-traffic days. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford had also previously said he wanted to increase the time air traffic controllers were “on position” actively managing traffic during an eight-hour shift to five hours from four.
The FAA was withholding the 2.8% pay increase approved by Congress in April until the union agreed to demands that the regulator said would increase efficiency.
“By improving how we track work, schedule shifts and allocate personnel, we can make better use of our workforce and respond more effectively to operational demands,” Bedford said in a statement Friday.
Lawmakers in their legislation gave the FAA administrator sole discretion to dole out the money once he determined that certain scheduling and staffing improvements were reached. Two prominent Democrats, however, in September urged the FAA to stop withholding the pay increase, saying the conditions laid out in the April legislation didn’t set a “high bar.”
The delayed pay bump agitated an already-demoralized workforce that’s borne the brunt of recurring government shutdowns. Controllers have also had to contend with a longstanding staffing shortage and outages caused by antiquated equipment that the Transportation Department and the FAA have been working to overhaul.
The pay bump takes effect October 18, and is backdated to the beginning of the year.
“Securing this pay increase took persistent advocacy on behalf of our members, both on Capitol Hill and at the negotiating table,” NATCA President Nick Daniels said in a statement on October 16.
