The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton provides expert insights on current events in the federal community. Read more interviews to keep up with daily news and analysis that affect the federal workforce. Reach out to Terry and the Federal Drive producers with feedback and story ideas at [email protected].
Terry Gerton GAO has just released a report on the staffing situation around aviation meteorologists. I want to begin by having you tell me what those people are and what they do.
Derrick Collins Sure, so as the fine public knows, bad weather can cause havoc on our best-made air travel plans. The National Weather Service puts aviation meteorologists on site at FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center and FAA’s 21 Air Traffic Control Centers to help air traffic controllers make weather-related decisions like changing a plane’s route for safety. These meteorologists provide this support 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and it can include specialized briefings and tailored weather forecast to support the flight.
Terry Gerton Anyone that’s ever flown out of Miami or Tampa in the summertime knows about these people and what they do, then.
Derrick Collins Or like myself, flying out of DFW on a regular basis.
Terry Gerton What did you find out about the staffing issues surrounding this important function?
Derrick Collins So Terry, our bottom line is we found that the meteorologist staffing levels were creating a strain on the staff to provide the needed services, and further that FAA has not yet identified risks to the safety and efficiency of the national airspace system posed by the current staffing levels. We found out the number of active meteorologists as of June 2025 was 69, with only eight of the control centers fully staffed. And five control centers with just one or two meteorologists. According to the Weather Service and an association representing the meteorologists, this is straining the remaining staff as they try to provide service 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
Terry Gerton 69 are there. What’s the target level? How many vacancies do we have?
Derrick Collins So under the interagency agreement that is set to expire at the end of this month, and this agreement is with FAA and the Weather Service, the command center should have six meteorologists, and each of the control centers should have four meteorologists. Now, an amendment to the agreement capped staffing at 81 positions, but it did not specify the distribution across the centers. So as I mentioned, you have five control centers that just have one or two meteorologists, such as Oakland with one, and Washington, D.C. and Boston with two.
Terry Gerton The report uses a phrase I think is really important here, calls this one more stressor on the national aerospace system. What are the operational consequences of these staffing shortfalls?
Derrick Collins So this is one of the things that stood out to us as we were doing the work, is that the national airspace system is already under strain with air traffic controller shortages and periodic equipment failures in the aging traffic control system. The potential compounding effects of current aviation meteorologist staffing levels on the safety and efficiency of the national airspace system is concerning. Now the bottom line here is the overall system is stressed.
Terry Gerton Do you have any particular incidents that you would highlight that resulted from this shortfall in aviation meteorologists?
Derrick Collins So, I don’t want to specify a specific incident. I think that the general concern that we have regarding the meteorologist is they’ve had to work overtime, forego leave, cover two or more areas of responsibility at one time to continue to provide support services 16 hours a day, seven days a week. And the association representing the meteorologists also noted the strain on the meteorologists and said that they’re suffering from burnout, fatigue and low morale.
Terry Gerton Has the staffing issue been affected by the Trump administration’s optional departures? Have people taken the opportunity to retire early or separate?
Derrick Collins So the staffing issue is long-standing. FAA told us that attrition is why they averaged about 81 meteorologists from 2019 through 2024. But others have pointed to retirements and the deferred resignation program, as well as the hiring freeze as additional stressors towards hiring these meteorologists.
Terry Gerton I’m speaking with Derrick Collins. He’s a director in the physical infrastructure team at the Government Accountability Office. One of the other things in this report, Derrick, is that it says the FAA hasn’t fully identified the risks posed by low staffing. As I read your findings, it sounded a little bit like the National Weather Service and the FAA were kind of pointing fingers at each other and saying, it’s your problem, no, it’s your problem. What does GAO recommend here in terms of solving? Recruiting, hiring, how do you get more aviation meteorologists on the job?
Derrick Collins So FAA has ultimate responsibility for the safety and efficiency of the national airspace system and has broad authority to regulate and oversee the use of that authority to ensure their responsibilities are met. Therefore, we’re recommending that FAA consult with the Weather Service to first fully identify the potential risks to safety and efficiency caused by the current meteorologist staffing levels and then take urgent action to address them. The Department of Transportation concurred with our recommendation and stated that it’s collaborating with the Weather Service on these issues.
Terry Gerton Is consulting urgent enough?
Derrick Collins What we’re asking is for them to take action. So the first step is to identify the risk to safety and efficiency. And then once those are identified, move forward with identifying those actions. Now, FAA and the Weather Service are partners in this, and so the expectation is that they work together to solve the problem.
Terry Gerton You spoke with airlines and meteorologists and air traffic controllers as you did this report. What concerns did they raise, and how did their perspective shape your recommendations?
Derrick Collins So the airlines and industry stakeholders were definitely concerned about various issues regarding the staffing levels and primarily being safety concerns due to overworked meteorologists, and then the loss of local expertise when services are conducted by a backup meteorologist. The work that the meteorologists do at the local control centers is highly specialized to that specific center and that airspace, and so it can be difficult for backup to come in and understand the airspace as well as someone who works in it on a regular basis.
Terry Gerton As you look ahead, what are the implications if the FAA and the Weather Service don’t resolve this? If they can’t find a solution or they don’t move out quickly, what challenges does the airspace system face?
Derrick Collins Again, Terry, given all the stressors on the system, it’s critically important for FAA and the Weather Service to solve this issue. And in particular, as I mentioned earlier, FAA is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety and efficiency, and has broad authority to do so, regarding the national airspace. And so using that authority in the near term to address these concerns is critically important.
Terry Gerton If you were sitting at the table with the FAA and the Weather Service during this consultation, are there particular actions you would suggest that they pursue?
Derrick Collins So we’re not prescriptive in identifying actions for FAA and the Weather Service to take. It’s up to FAA and the weather service to identify what those risks are, how they might mitigate those risks and then the actions that they need to take to solve the overall problem.
Terry Gerton And for the flying public, what do you want them to know?
Derrick Collins I would say that it is safe to fly, but we still want the agencies to do all that they can to identify and mitigate risk.
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