NATCA’S OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON MANDATORY RELOCATION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS FROM NEW YORK TO PHILADELPHIA
(WASHINGTON) – The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is dismayed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that effective July 28, 2024, it is requiring the relocation of 12 air traffic controllers who work at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility (N90) located in Westbury, N.Y. for up to two years to the Philadelphia Air Traffic Control Tower and TRACON (PHL) located in Philadelphia, Pa. These 12 employees will be uprooted from their homes, families, and lives on Long Island, N.Y. to Philadelphia.
The FAA determined that the airspace under the responsibility of air traffic controllers who work at N90, will transfer to PHL. The FAA made this decision to address short staffing at N90. However, NATCA has repeatedly voiced concerns that the reassignment of the airspace will not only fail to address the existing staffing shortage but will also create an even more significant staffing shortage than presently exists with the airspace in New York. There are currently 33 certified professional controllers overseeing the airspace in question. After the airspace transfers, only 24 certified professional controllers will be responsible for the same airspace.
In addition, NATCA has raised concerns regarding the readiness of the necessary equipment and procedures to accomplish such a complex transfer of airspace.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Galen Munroe, Deputy Director of Public Affairs; 202-220-9802, [email protected].
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is a labor union and aviation safety organization in the United States that represents nearly 20,000 highly skilled air traffic controllers, engineers, and other aviation safety-related professionals. NATCA was certified in 1987 by the Federal Labor Relations Authority to be the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Today, NATCA is one of the strongest labor unions in the federal sector and represents a range of aviation safety professionals in 15 FAA bargaining units, five Department of Defense air traffic facilities, and 123 federal contract towers. These air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals make vital contributions to the U.S. economy and make modern life possible by coordinating the safe, orderly, and expeditious movement of one billion aviation passengers and millions of tons of freight within the National Airspace System each year. NATCA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
