Expressing "concern" over recent reports of "near misses" between planes, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) today called for federal action to address safety issues at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The congressman urged action to address the increase number and of improve the training for air traffic controllers the airport in a letter to Polly Trottenberg, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.. “Multiple near-miss incidents at our airport are totally unacceptable. We need action before lives are lost in a costly disaster,” said Doggett.

Doggett cited multiple national press reports and investigations, including those the Washington Post, and the New York Times, that document "an unacceptable number of near misses" in the past year, including a near miss between Southwest and American Airlines planes, a FedEx plane landing and a Southwest plane departing on the same runway, and a the routing of a SkyWest jet to ascend into the path of a descending Southwest plane. The letter also notes a September incident in which "the routing of a military F/A-18 jet caused a NetJets Cessna Citation to take evasive action, as well as on the ground coming into close proximity to a small propeller-powered aircraft preparing for takeoff."

Air-traffic controller levels have not been increased to address the huge jump in ABIA's traffic from pre-pandemic levels, he said. 

Calling the situation a "public threat,' the letter notes that "ABIA’s tower and approach control volume has increased 30% from pre-Covid volumes. Since September 2022, ABIA has qualified as a 'Large Hub,' accounting for more than 1% of total enplanements in the National Airport System. Yet despite this sizable increase in traffic, controller staffing at ABIA has not increased. According to your Administration, Austin has just 35 fully certified controllers, about 40% below the target level jointly set by the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association."

"I do not believe ABIA can wait for its enactment and implementation [of proposed legislative changes to address airport safety]," the letter reads. "The FAA should take immediate action to improve the safety of the traveling public at ABIA." Doggett's requests include:

  • Designate ABIA as a level 10 terminal facility. ABIA currently ranks as a “medium” level 9, and by increasing ABIA’s ranking our airport’s extraordinary growth and traffic levels will be better reflected and will bring more resources, more appropriate compensation for controllers, and generate a morale boost for the overworked controller workforce.
  • Grant ABIA priority consideration in future rounds of National Centralized ERR (Employee Requested Reassignment) Process Team (NCEPT) until the airport’s workforce is able to support staffing an appropriate number of controllers.
  • Allow Operational Supervisor/Controller-in-Charge to provide oversight without concurrently working Flight Data/Clearance Delivery.
  • Provide a minimum of 12 hours of On-the-Job Training to each Certified Professional Controller In-Training each week.
  • Upgrade the airspace levels surrounding ABIA by either extending the boundaries of Class Charlie Airspace or even upgrading the surrounding airspace to Class Bravo, thereby tripling the amount of protected airspace around ABIA and mitigating controller workload by reducing the amount of traffic flying in close proximity to the airport without a requirement to inform air traffic controllers of their position.