Is Air Travel Bound for a Rough Ride This Summer?

According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), US air travel is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels this year. While that’s good news for airline companies, experts are concerned that summer isn’t going to be smooth for air travel.

Geoff Freeman, president of the US Travel Association, said that “We expect the summer travel season to be off the charts when it comes to demand.” He added that “That’s great for the travel industry, but there’s no doubt that – as a country – we have underinvested in the aviation system for far too long. This type of demand will be an incredible stress test for it.”

Air Travel Issues That Have to Be Addressed

To avoid problems during summer, the aviation industry needs to address several issues including staffing shortages, old technology, and system bottlenecks.

Freeman said that “The FAA has acknowledged that it can’t handle this level of demand—that is why they’ve asked the airlines to reduce capacity in some areas.” He also added that “They know that the investment in air traffic control, technology, and individuals has been below the level it needs to be—and now we’re paying the price for that.”

Shortage of Air Traffic Controllers

One of the biggest problems this summer is the shortage of air traffic controllers. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg puts the shortage at around 3,000. Because of this, airlines were asked to reduce summer flights in the New York metropolitan area due to an understaffed major radar facility.

Paul Rinaldi who is a former air traffic controller and the vice president of the Global Air Traffic Controller Alliance admitted that they stopped training new air traffic controllers when the pandemic started. The situation was even worsened by the retirement of older air traffic controllers.

Hiring new air traffic controllers can get tricky. Training takes months to complete. Then, you’re required to finish a three-year on-the-job experience before you can get certified.

In the US, the mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers is 56 years old. In addition to this, the FAA won’t hire anyone older than 31. That’s because the agency prefers their candidates to have a career that would last for at least 25 years.

Freeman said that “We have 1200 fewer air traffic controllers today than we had 10 years ago.”

Old Technology

Another issue that could affect flights this summer is the outdated system used by the FAA. In January, thousands of flights were either canceled or delayed because of a system outage. The system in question was the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) which was set up in 1993.

So could something like this happen again? Henry Harteveldt who is an aviation analyst at Atmosphere Research revealed that “Many systems date back several decades – not many of us have a 40-year-old computer at home right now, and it’s frightening that some of the technology systems that the FAA may be relying on potentially goes back that much.”

The FAA has been working to fix the problem by investing in a multi-billion dollar program called NextGen. Unfortunately, its full deployment is expected in 2030.

Pilot Shortage

North America is said to have a shortage of around 17,000 pilots. By 2026, this number will reach 24,000. Airlines have been trying to solve the shortage by using larger aircraft and catering to fewer flights.

The good news is that airlines are doing a good job hiring pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, and other workers pertinent to their operations.

Harteveldt said that “The most critical groups are the pilots because there was a severe shortage last year. Airlines in the US have hired more than 10,000 pilots collectively.” In addition to this, there’s the possibility of updating the pilot retirement age from 65 to 67.

The Department of Transportation reported an increase in airline passenger complaints by 55% in 2022. This prompted US President Joe Biden to announce his plans to improve passenger protection and compensation for delayed and canceled flights.