Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) progress in meeting congressionally mandated staffing goals for air traffic controllers, aviation safety inspectors, and maintenance technicians, focusing on its: (1) employment qualifications; and (2) recruitment, hiring, and initial training programs.
GAO found that FAA: (1) was behind planned hiring levels for inspectors and maintenance personnel, but expected to meet fiscal year (FY) staffing goals; and (2) expects to fall 518 controllers short of its FY 1988 staffing goal. GAO also found that controller shortages resulted from: (1) the lack of a national, centralized recruitment policy and resultant failure to attract high-quality candidates; (2) the time-consuming hiring process, averaging 11.5 months before candidates enter the FAA Academy for training; (3) the large number of candidates who did not complete training; and (4) field placement of trainees without consideration of individual candidates' test scores, performance levels, and organizational and personal needs. In addition, GAO found that FAA is studying ways to redesign, reorganize, and modernize its training programs for controllers, inspectors, and technicians.
