Feb. 4, 2009: An Eyewitness News investigation reveals that air traffic control towers in New York and New Jersey may be dangerously understaffed.

March 21, 2007: Air-traffic control towers at small and medium airports have been routinely understaffed with only one person on a shift, a violation of federal aviation rules, a government investigator said Tuesday.

Sept. 23, 2006: The recent tragic event crash of a commuter jet in Kentucky shined an uncomfortable spotlight on the U.S. air traffic control system… Controllers in Houston and across the country are now facing unprecedented staffing and scheduling pressures. We have a depleted work force watching record air traffic at grueling intervals in our city, and one terrible incident was all it took for us to look each other in the eyes and say, “We need answers about staffing and scheduling before safety suffers in Houston.”

If you’re scratching your head over all the latest reports about air traffic controllers nodding off at work, you shouldn’t be. All you have to do is read the endless stories like the ones above that are easy to find. Understaffing and long hours have plagued the industry for a while now and have only gotten worse during the Great Recession.

Many control towers across the country have been hurting for workers, and guess what the Federal Aviation Administration finally did yesterday, other than kick out the FAA chief? The agency finally announced it will be adding staff to 27 towers nationally. Helloooooooo. What took so long?

The understaffing at government agencies and throughout Corporate America has led to a lot of overworked, yet still, productive U.S. workers, and they’re tired. And air traffic controllers aren’t the only one snoozing. (more…)