Aviation Experts Warn of Eroding Safety Margins in U.S. Airspace

Inadequate staffing, outdated technology, and inconsistent funding are key challenges, according to a panel report.

A panel of aviation experts has warned that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs better staffing, equipment, and technology to cope with a surge in the most serious close calls between planes.
The panel's report points to decreasing safety margins in U.S. airspace, with the margin of safety eroding and set to worsen if no action is taken.
The panel ties most of the FAA's challenges to inadequate and inconsistent funding, suggesting the FAA should be insulated from annual funding battles in Washington.
The FAA has about 1,000 fewer fully certified controllers than it had 11 years ago, with hiring falling by nearly half during the pandemic.
The panel also highlighted the FAA’s aging technology, which led to an outage in January that briefly caused flights to be grounded nationwide.