Keep the public fully informed
MESSENGER NEWS (Fort Dodge, Iowa): Keep the public fully informed
What you don’t know may hurt you, particularly if it involves airport safety.
Federal Aviation Administration officials have accepted most recommendations made by the Transportation Department’s inspector general in a report on air traffic controllers. The essence of the report is that the FAA needs to pay more attention to training new controllers.
At a few of the 314 airports with FAA controllers, the agency has exceeded its own guidelines concerning the percentage of trainees to experienced controllers, according to the inspector general’s report. And, the report noted, it is difficult to obtain information on the controller training program. There are four FAA vice presidents who share responsibilities for hiring and training controllers.
No one in the inspector general’s office raised any immediate concerns about the safety of the traveling public. But the agency did make several suggestions to the FAA, nearly all of which are being followed.
One suggestion the FAA has rejected involves annual public reports of the percentages of controller trainees at individual airports, however. The FAA balked at that, saying that a once-a-year “snapshot” of the numbers could be misleading.
Yes it could. Why not an online report updated monthly, then?
Frankly, the FAA reaction to the public reporting recommendation sounds like an attempt to avoid airing dirty laundry. Because air travelers’ safety is involved, it shouldn’t be accepted. Some means of complying with the spirit of the Transportation Department recommendation should be found.
|
