Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said in an interview that he plans to encourage air traffic controllers to continue working beyond the age of forced retirement at age 56.
“I would like to offer the air traffic controllers to ensure that they stay longer. That's my authority. I would like to give them the opportunity to stay longer than the age of forced retirement of 56. Duffy will make more money when he appears on Fox News' “Honity” on Thursday night.
Duffy, a former Wisconsin legislator, hopes that air traffic controllers will accept offers they plan to “in the coming days.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is around 3,000 spots that cannot fill the role of vacant air traffic controllers at airports. Less than a tenth of the airports across the country have the right amount of air traffic controllers to meet the thresholds set by the National Air Traffic Controllers' Association, the FAA, and CBS News. analysis FAA data found.
The issue fell into the spotlight last week following a clash near Washington Reagan National Airport. All 67 people were killed after an American Airlines flight crashed into an Army helicopter in one of the deadliest American air travel incidents of 20 years.
The secretary said DOT has plans to “remove the bottlenecks” and “take the smartest children to the academy.”
“But Sean, after graduating, it takes a year to three years to train at the Tower,” he told Sean Hannity, host of Fox News. “That's going to take some time.”
Duffy also said the air traffic control system is outdated and needs to be updated, he says, President Trump.
“But our transport system, the air traffic control system, is moving towards a place where we use World War II technology,” he said. “And it should have been updated 10, 20, 30 years ago.”
