With retirements of the nation's air traffic controllers accelerating, one senator is calling for a major boost in spending for replacements.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., sent a letter to President Bush last week urging him to triple spending for recruiting and hiring controllers to $54 million.
The Courier-Journal and Gannett News Service reported last month that there were 1,100 fewer controllers guiding planes through the skies than there were three years ago, and flights are increasing.
The project also found that controller retirements have exceeded government projections three years in a row. About 70 percent of air traffic controllers will become eligible to retire through 2015.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has said that critical shortages are causing flight delays and heightening the danger of catastrophic mistakes by over-worked controllers.
The Federal Aviation Administration contends that most air traffic control facilities are adequately staffed. The agency also points to a plan it has developed for hiring replacement controllers.
But Schumer criticized the FAA last week for not moving quickly enough to offset retirements.
"Air traffic controllers are the glue that keeps our aviation system together, and that glue is starting to wither away," the senator told reporters in a conference call.
Bush will unveil his budget requests to Congress early next month.
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