National air traffic controller shortage impacts Fresno airspace during summer travel season

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- With summer travel in full swing, a national air traffic controller shortage is impacting Fresno airspace.

"Fatigue is a big issue," controller Jerry O'Gorman said. "The job is very high stress."

O'Gorman is the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in Fresno, where federal data reveals the tower is at just 63 percent of its staffing target.

Nearly every third seat sat empty in 2024.

"We're not supposed to be on position longer than two hours without a break," O'Gorman said. "So, obviously, when the staffing days are light, sometimes that has to be stretched quite a bit."

The tower is staffed by the FAA, and some Fresno controllers are now working six days.

Controllers handle everything from firefighting aircraft to helicopters and passenger planes with hundreds on board.

"It's very hard to stay [at a] high level making these decisions when you're tired," O'Gorman told Action News.

ABC News mapped towers across the country. More than half have only 70 percent of their targeted staffing levels.

Control towers in Dallas, Las Vegas, and Denver, which are Fresno's most popular destinations, are also short-staffed.

"That makes me nervous," Tyaisha Graves said. "As a traveler - a frequent traveler, it makes you nervous," she said.

The nationwide shortage even has some pilots thinking twice.

"You kind of have to keep your head on a swivel, that the information being provided to you might not be as accurate," pilot Brynn Tannehill said.

America's air traffic control system is aging. Fresno's tower is more than 60 years old.

"We still have equipment that uses floppy disks," O'Gorman said. "Some of our new controllers don't even know what that is when they come into the building."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has committed to a "brand new air traffic control system." It will cost more than $30 billion and take at least three years.

"We have the American people, the Congress, the DOT, the president, the FAA - We're all on the same page of making this a reality because failure is not an option right now," Duffy said during a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing this week.

O'Gorman confirms the FAA has added four controllers in Fresno since last year, and three more are currently in training, a process that takes about two years.

Flying remains the safest mode of transportation.

"I put my daughter on an airplane two weeks ago, and I have no plans this year, but I would gladly jump on an airplane and fly," O'Gorman said.

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