North Carolina
Like the Nation, North Carolina’s Airport Towers Are Understaffed
After a commercial airplane collided with a military helicopter in Washington, D.C. last week, killing 67 people, President Donald Trump immediately blamed diversity initiatives, condemning what he described as loose standards for air traffic controllers that prioritized politics over safety.
That specious argument aside, the incident has certainly highlighted safety concerns amid a chronic air traffic controller staffing shortage that’s been building for decades, including at airports here in North Carolina.
Control towers at the state’s largest airports are short-handed, according to the latest federal data. Vacancies at federally staffed air traffic towers in North Carolina are on par with the nation’s shortage, with both the state and the U.S. at about 72 percent of staffing goals. Congress requires the Federal Aviation Administration to report its staffing data annually, and the latest analyzed by The Assembly is current as of 2023.
Dan McCabe, Southern Regional Vice President for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said that though the data is outdated, it still roughly reflects staffing problems that persist today. “It’s among the shortest it’s been in 30 years,” he said. “Markets get busier. Charlotte’s exploded,” he said, referencing growth at Charlotte Douglas International, the nation’s ninth-busiest airport.
McCabe emphasized air traffic controllers undergo rigorous training and described the crash at Reagan Washington National Airport as every controller’s worst nightmare. The nation has about 10,800 working certified controllers but needs thousands more to meet staffing goals. “It has gotten better, but 3,600 bodies short, that’s tight,” McCabe said.
Data shows the state’s federally operated towers had 178 certified controllers as of 2023, which is 57 controllers below the industry agreed-upon goal for the six airports combined.
About 92 percent of air traffic controllers are union represented, and McCabe oversees union members in the southern region, which includes North Carolina. McCabe noted that Charlotte, a desirable airport for controllers, still struggles with filling roles. “They’re not even 100 percent staffed,” he said.
Of the state’s six airports with federally controlled towers, Charlotte had the lowest vacancy rate, with 14 open positions out of a target of 90 total. Fayetteville had the highest vacancy rate with 12 positions shy of the staffing goal of 28 controllers.
North Carolina is home to 72 publicly owned airports, and the Federal Aviation Administration directly employs air traffic controllers at six of the state’s largest airports. The FAA also contracts with private companies to employ air traffic controllers in smaller airports, but staffing data at those airports is not publicly available.
McCabe said the prolonged labor shortage can lead to delays and stress endured by controllers in stretched-thin towers. But safety is always nonnegotiable, he said.
“At the end of the day, you really only have two things at your disposal: You have safety and efficiency. And you can’t allow safety to fall off at all,” he said. “Sometimes the efficiency just isn’t there.”
Since 2010, aviation officials have reported 30 near-midair collisions in North Carolina to the Aviation Safety Reporting System, a voluntary publicly maintained database, according to data reviewed by The Assembly. Some reports cite miscommunication with traffic control as a contributing factor, and several cite close calls involving drones, aircraft not appearing on scanning technology, or inexperienced pilots. Six near-misses took place last year, with the most recent in October at the Asheville Regional Airport, in which a passenger jet captain reported being so close to a private plane that he could see its pilot.
North Carolina’s biggest airports have rapidly expanded in recent years, with several consistently breaking annual passenger records.
By far the busiest, Charlotte Douglas International Airport saw nearly 26 million outbound passengers in 2023, according to the latest federal data. Ranking 35th in the nation, Raleigh-Durham International Airport assisted more than 7 million outbound passengers, followed by 1.1 million at the Asheville Regional Airport, nearly 896,000 at the Piedmont Triad International Airport, 654,000 at the Wilmington International Airport, and 166,000 at the Fayetteville Regional Airport.
Each airport was mum on how it’s affected by the air traffic controller shortage.
All but Fayetteville, which didn’t respond, redirected The Assembly’s inquiries to the Federal Aviation Administration, which also didn’t respond. Representatives for the Asheville and Charlotte airports each said it was experiencing no impacts.
Asked to address how or whether air traffic controller staffing levels affect operations at Piedmont Triad International Airport, a spokesperson responded in a one-word email: “No.” That airport, which serves the Greensboro area, was short six controllers out of a staffing goal of 28, according to the latest data.
Skeleton crews at some control towers make six-day workweeks and overtime typical for many controllers, McCabe said, but it varies depending on the airport. “It takes a toll,” he said. “Some facilities are better off than others.”
The median wage for air traffic controllers was about $137,000 in 2023, per the latest data, but issues with understaffing and a high barrier to entry have exacerbated recruitment. Just a sliver of workers make it through the many hoops and years of training required to become a certified controller, which has a mandatory retirement age of 56. “There’s no quick fix to it,” McCabe said. “That’s how you end up with a compounding issue.”
On top of his union role, McCabe is an air traffic controller in Atlanta and was among the more than 2 million federal employees who received an email last week from the Trump administration asking them to resign. The administration is offering federal workers paid leave through September 30 if they take the separation deal, which employees must decide on by Thursday.
The air traffic controllers union has asked whether their members were intended to be included in the separation deal. While Trump administration officials have indicated that they shouldn’t have been, controllers are still awaiting final clarification.
“If people chose to do it, it could only make things worse,” McCabe said.
Johanna F. Still is The Assembly’s Wilmington editor. She previously covered economic development for Greater Wilmington Business Journal and was the assistant editor at Port City Daily.
North Carolina
Police: North Carolina man charged after high-speed chase in Erie County, arrested in the Town of Perry
PERRY, N.Y. — A North Carolina man is in custody after a chase that started in Erie County and ended with an arrest in Perry.
Wyoming County Sheriff’s deputies say Ericson Vasquez-Moran, 22, rammed a Border Patrol vehicle in Erie County around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday before taking off. The suspect was spotted in Warsaw on Route 20A, but a chase was called off due to high speeds.
Then around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, deputies say Vasquez-Moran called 911 from Perry to surrender.
He’s charged with speeding, failure to keep right, unlawful fleeing a police officer, reckless driving, and reckless endangerment in the second degree.
Vasquez-Moran was given an appearance ticket for the Village of Warsaw Court and was released to the custody of the United States Border Patrol.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — After nearly two hours of public comment, the Asheville City Council unanimously denied a proposed affordable housing complex off Caribou Road—despite the city’s ongoing housing crisis.
The proposal, submitted by developer Pennrose, would have brought 100 affordable housing units to a nearly 10-acre site in the Shiloh neighborhood.
“I’m going to vote against affordable housing tonight, and that’s not a norm for me,” said Asheville City Councilmember Sage Turner.
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News 13 asked Vice Mayor Antanette Mosely why the city would deny this project amid a housing crisis in Asheville.
She said, in a statement, “I absolutely believe Asheville needs more affordable housing, and I have consistently supported housing projects across the city. But not every site is appropriate for every project.”
Residents who opposed the project said they were not against affordable housing itself, but believed the development was too large for the area.
MAY 13, 2026 – The Asheville City Council unanimously denied a proposed affordable housing complex off Caribou Road—despite the city’s ongoing housing crisis. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
“The access is too narrow, there was only one access point, the streets are too narrow, we’ve got a big problem with traffic here,” said Shiloh resident Scott Raines.
“Perhaps the only thing that I consider as a dead stop for affordable housing is if people are going to be injured or possibly die from the traffic that’s created,” Michael Boses, another resident, said.
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The Shiloh neighborhood, established in 1870, is one of Asheville’s last historically Black communities. Several council members said preserving the area’s legacy factored into their decision.
“My vote for no is because I feel hyper protective of our legacy neighborhoods, I feel hyper protective of Shiloh,” Turner said.
Pennrose responded to the denial in a statement, saying: “While we are disappointed in the Council’s decision concerning the rezoning application at Caribou Road, we respect the community’s interest in preserving the character of legacy neighborhoods.”
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ASHEVILLE – The city will consider shifting $19.2 million of its Tropical Storm Helene recovery funding to repair single-family housing after its initial plan would only repair about eight homes.
Across Western North Carolina, contracts for the repair, reconstruction or rehabilitation of single-family homes damaged by Helene have come in at an average cost of $276,285, according to slides presented to the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery on April 20. The repair program, managed through RenewNC, is funded by a $1.4 billion Community Development Block Grant delivered to North Carolina from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In 2024, the North Carolina Office of Budget and Management estimated that over 70,000 homes were damaged by the storm, which caused an estimated $60 billion in damages and killed over 100 in the state.
After the city received its own $225 million grant from HUD, City Council unanimously voted to only allocated $31 million to housing for both multi-family projects and single-family home repairs. Of that $31 million pot, it only allocated $3 million to the single-family home repair program. During a May 5 Housing and Community Development Committee meeting, the city projected costs for just single-family home repairs at $30 million to $40 million.
In late 2025 and early 2026, city staff had suggested moving millions into the single-family home program to meet rising demand, the Citizen Times reported. During an April 1 Helene Housing Recovery Meeting, Director of Renew NC’s Single-Family Housing Program Maggie Battaglin estimated the $3 million in funding would only cover around eight homes.
Under the city’s agreement with the state, Asheville is not able to access the additional $807 million allocated to the single-family home repair program, meaning remaining applicants in Asheville would not be served. The agreement was first reported by Blue Ridge Public Radio.
Staff are now suggesting reallocating $19.2 million from other areas of its CDBG plan to fund the single-family repair program. The reallocation, which would require an amendment to the city’s plan, would pull $9.2 million from its multi-family housing program and $10 million from its CDBG-DR Infrastructure Program, where the city would pull from the funds from a project at the North Fork Water Treatment Plant. The reallocation would set aside $22.2 million for the program and will serve 55-65 households, according to state estimates presented by city of Asheville staff.
As of May 5, 285 applications for the program were filed in Asheville with 132 being considered “active” and eight being “under review.” Of the city’s applicants, 124 households have been deemed eligible for the RenewNC program.
The reallocation would set aside $22.2 million for the program and serve roughly 55-65 households, the city’s CDBG-DR Program Manager Elma King said during City Council’s May 7 Agenda Briefing. It’s still not enough to serve everyone, though, King said.
“Additional CDBG-DR programs, outside of infrastructure, may need to be re-evaluated to support single-family home repair,” King said.
As Western North Carolina continues to recover from Helene, lawmakers and regional leaders have pushed for more funding from the federal government. Despite high damages, Congress and FEMA have only distributed roughly $7 billion to the state, according to estimates from the Governor’s Office for Western North Carolina Recovery. Gov. Josh Stein has requested an additional $13.5 billion in federal aid, which would go through HUD’s CDBG-DR program.
Estimated damages in Asheville from Helene are far above the $225 million provided by the federal government, City Council member Kim Roney noted during the May 7 meeting.
“I keep coming back to the point that we don’t have enough funding, because $225 million sounds like a lot but it’s not $1.1 billion,” Roney said.
City Council will vote on the $19.2 million reallocation on June 23.
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.
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