Title: Air Traffic Controllers Will Face A Staffing Crisis Every 25 Years
Headings: Why Air Traffic Controllers Face A Staffing Crisis Every 25 Years
Why Air Traffic Controllers Face A Staffing Crisis Every 25 Years
Vivian Giang

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Beginning this week — as part of the government's mandatory budget cuts — nearly 15,000 air traffic controllers, along with 47,000 total FAA employees — are required to take one to two furlough days every two weeks until September. This shortage in staff is expected to delay flights in airports across the country. But aside from budget cuts, a shortage of air traffic controllers will be a burden the FAA will face every 25 years. Here's why: On August 3, 1981, 7,000 flights were cancelled when 13,000 air traffic controllers walked out on their jobs to strike against unsuccessful contract negotiations between the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization and the FAA.