TAMPA - As a group, the nation's air traffic controllers are quickly growing old.
Over half of the 15,000 will retire in the next 10 years, according to the Government Accounting Office. By then, almost all of Tampa's 70 controllers will be eligible to retire.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the union that represents the controllers agree on the numbers.
Where they differ is over how to respond to the problem. On Thursday, FAA officials in nine cities, including Tampa, announced that they are studying the situation and will present a comprehensive plan to Congress in December.
Union officials counter that the problem needs immediate action.
The FAA needs to begin hiring and training replacements now or the staffing shortage will being to erode safety, if it hasn't already, said Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
"People are already leaving in droves," Church said. "We are not seeing anyone hired to replace them."
Air traffic controllers direct planes while they are in the air and on the ground. The starting salary varies but is often around $50,000. An experienced controller working at a busy facility where overtime is abundant can make $130,000 or more.
Most of the controllers approaching retirement were hired in the few years after President Reagan fired controllers during a union dispute in 1981.
Controllers can retire after 25 years, or 20 years if they are also 50 years old. The mandatory retirement age is 56, with a few exceptions.
While 2013 may seem a long way off, in the next three years alone more than 2,100 controllers, or about 15 percent of the workforce, will retire, Church said. And controllers cannot be replaced by just anyone. The average controller goes through 2 to 4 years of training to become certified.
Ideally, the FAA needs to start hiring about 1,000 controllers a year for the next few years, Church said. Otherwise, the problem is going to get worse.
"We need to hire now to make sure when those years come up that we have people in place with enough training," Church said.
Laurie Zugay, the FAA's air traffic manager in Tampa, said they are looking at all 300 air traffic facilities to find the best ways to address the issue. Some vacancies will likely be filled by moving controllers from overstaffed facilities to those in need, she said.
The FAA is examining ways to improve productivity by better managing sick leave and workers' compensation claims. The use of advanced simulators that better mimic real conditions could also cut the number of months needed for training, allowing controllers to get into the workforce sooner.
The administration is also looking into whether technological advancements could reduce the number of controllers needed.
"The task at hand is not to simply hire a number of new controllers, but to hire the right number," Zugay said.
Tampa International Airport is unlikely to undergo a shortage of controllers, Zugay said. The city is a prime destination for many controllers, Zugay said, adding that she has 50 resumes in her office from controllers who want to work at the airport. Right now Tampa is one of the few facilities that is slightly overstaffed, with 70 controllers, three more than mandated.
Fifteen of Tampa's controllers will be eligible for retirement by the end of the year, though only eight have indicated they will do so before early 2006.
Typically only 25 percent of controllers retire the year they become eligible, said FAA spokesman Chris White. Most stay on the job for at least a few more years, according to FAA statistics.
"What's happening in Tampa is what happens in other facilities," White said. "Most of the time, the controllers stick around past when they could retire."
Controllers eligible for retirement do not have to give notice, said Tony Miller, the union's Tampa Tower president. They could retire at any time, leaving a facility critically understaffed, he said.
"We need to stop putting Band-Aids on the problem," Miller said. "We need to sew up the wound."
