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Southern Regional Vice President for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said that though the data is outdated, it still roughly reflects staffing problems that persist today.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.