Air traffic controllers have basically been in shortage for the better part of two decades.
The current situation is also because a large clump of controllers were hired after the Reagan administration broke the ATC strike in 1981, and that giant clump of people is now reaching retirement age at the same time.
That group has already retired. The retirement age for ATC is 56, so a 55 year old still working today would have been 11 in 1981. Certainly they were not hired at that time.
why is this even something that the gov needs to worry about directly? why don't they just force airports / airlines to have to pay for these guys like in UK, Canada, or Germany?
All 3 of those countries have separate organizations employing the air traffic controllers. DFS is 100% owned by the government, NATS is formerly a public service and now half privately owned, and Nav Canada was established by the ANS act.
The FAA has a $5.20 tax per flight segment per passenger and a 7.5% ticket tax. The budget set by congress limits how much the FAA can spend on air traffic control, and the surplus (there is a surplus) goes into the AATF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_and_Airway_Trust_Fund
There's been a lot of reporting in their vein over the last couple years—both on the ATC staffing shortage, and the large number close-calls at airports (which some observers link to ATC staffing). I.e.,
- "But the most acute challenge, The Times found, is that the nation’s air traffic control facilities are chronically understaffed. While the lack of controllers is no secret — the Biden administration is seeking funding to hire and train more — the shortages are more severe and are leading to more dangerous situations than previously known."
- "As of May, only three of the 313 air traffic facilities nationwide had enough controllers to meet targets set by the F.A.A. and the union representing controllers, The Times found. Many controllers are required to work six-day weeks and a schedule so fatiguing that multiple federal agencies have warned that it can impede controllers’ abilities to do their jobs properly."
...
- "“The staffing shortage is beyond unsustainable. It has now moved into a phase of JUST PLAIN DANGEROUS,” one controller wrote to the F.A.A. last year in a confidential safety report that The Times reviewed."
- "“Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme,” the report continued. “The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take.”"
