Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which in 2023 was the busiest airport in the world. Credit: Darryl Brooks via Shutterstock
FAA is working with the National Weather Service to develop a fiscal 2026 plan that will likely include 64 meteorologists, according to a new document, even as a federal watchdog warns of safety concerns related to aviation meteorologist staffing levels.
In a response included in a Government Accountability Office report released today, Anne Byrd, the Department of Transportation’s assistant secretary for administration, wrote that the agency’s new “service delivery model” will change the way FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers across the country are staffed and maintained and pointed to “advances in technology that create efficiencies in meteorology.”
The plan for 64 meteorologists at would be far lower than the 90 full-time positions agreed to in 2016 or the 81-employee cap set in 2025. GAO notes 69 active meteorologists as of June.
GAO warned in its report that FAA is already operating with fewer meteorologists before technological efficiencies are realized, and said FAA hasn’t identified or developed specific actions it could take to “immediately address the potential risks to the safety” of the national airspace posed by the staff reductions.
“It likely will take time before a new model can be implemented and for meteorologists to be hired and trained within new areas of responsibility. As such, we believe that it is critical for FAA to fully identify the risks of current staffing levels in the current [center weather service unit] model and take urgent action to address them now,” the report said.
While Byrd wrote that the Department of Transportation concurs with GAO’s recommendations in the report, she did not provide details on steps the department would take to ensure safety.
“FAA concurs with the recommendation to identify, in consultation with NWS, potential risks to the safety and efficiency of the NAS caused by current meteorologist staffing levels and take urgent action to address them,” she added in the letter.
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