The U.S. DOT’s Inspector General (IG) has begun auditing the FAA’s air traffic controller hiring processes in light of last year’s controversial changes to a system that had been in place for decades. The FAA plans to hire 3,200 new controllers over the next two years to fill the vacancies left by thousands of retiring air traffic controller hired after the 1981 Patco strike.
Recently, both Congress and the media have expressed concerns about the transparency and effectiveness of the FAA’s revised processes. The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the subcommittee for aviation and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) have specifically asked the IG to examine the agency’s updated hiring program for any weaknesses in the integrity of the hiring processes.
The IG said the audit will review the screening, training and placement of new controllers, as well as identify the FAA’s justification for altering the hiring process last year. A 2010 IG review of FAA hiring determined the agency did not make full use of valuable data gathered from initial controller aptitude tests.