The Nation : FAA to Offer Some Controllers Bonuses

The Federal Aviation Administration received permission to offer pay bonuses next year to air traffic controllers and other personnel at hard-to-staff facilities in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. The Office of Personnel Management has approved what the FAA described as a “demonstration project” testing whether incentives will attract qualified employees to unattractive assignments. About 2,000 FAA employees in the three metropolitan areas will be eligible to receive an additional allowance of up to 20% of their basic pay under the five-year test program, Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV said. The FAA cited bonuses as part of its plans to ease pressure on overworked controllers at the nation’s busiest airport, O’Hare International in Chicago. “This project should make it possible for the FAA to achieve full staffing at facilities where living costs, highly complex operations or other factors have made them less attractive locations for employees to move to,” Burnley said.