Earlier this year, the U.S. experienced one of its deadliest air mishaps in two decades.

An American Airlines passenger plane collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter sending both into the Potomac River.

ℹ️ For reference: American Airlines has one of the worst track-records when it comes to crashes.

In the immediate aftermath, officials mentioned that short-staffed air traffic control towers may have played a role. This was later deemed not the cause, but air traffic control staffing shortages are plaguing 44% of all FAA regulated towers, latest data shows.

Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao maps out every single tower that is below the 2024-guideline staffing threshold (85%) per the latest available data current to September 2023, published by the FAA.

128 of the 290 FAA-operated air traffic control towers across the country are short-staffed.

Rochester Tower, located in Minnesota has less than half the required controllers per 2024 requirements.

The table below lists all facilities by the percentage of staff filled.

RankFacilityFacility Code% Staffed1Rochester TowerRST47.82Waterloo TowerALO56.53Morristown TowerMMU57.94Pasco TowerPSC58.85Oakland TowerOAK60.06North Las Vegas TowerVGT60.07Scottsdale TowerSDL62.58Memphis TRACONM0363.49Grand Canyon TowerGCN64.310Traverse City TowerTVC64.311Terre Haute /Hulman TowerHUF65.512Rockford TowerRFD65.613Falcon Field TowerFFZ66.714Grand Forks TowerGFK66.715Huntington TowerHTS66.716Las Vegas TRACONL3067.917Andrews TowerADW68.218Centennial TowerAPA69.219Fargo TowerFAR69.220Green Bay TowerGRB69.221Lubbock TowerLBB69.222Milwaukee TowerMKE69.423Willow Run TowerYIP69.624Austin TowerAUS70.025Rochester TowerROC70.326Tallahassee TowerTLH70.827Charleston TowerCRW71.028Allegheny TowerAGC71.429Aspen TowerASE71.430St Lucie TowerFPR71.431Grand Rapids TowerGRR71.432Hayward TowerHWD71.433Saginaw TowerMBS71.434Orlando TowerMCO71.435Sioux Gateway TowerSUX71.436Casper TowerCPR72.237Seattle TRACONS4673.138Hooks TowerDWH73.739Juneau TowerJNU73.740Little Rock TowerLIT73.741Boise TowerBOI73.842Meacham TowerFTW73.943Islip TowerISP73.944Birmingham TowerBHM74.445Erie TowerERI75.046Eugene TowerEUG75.047Helena TowerHLN75.048Poughkeepsie TowerPOU75.049Fort Wayne TowerFWA75.950Duluth TowerDLH76.051Youngstown TowerYNG76.052Binghamton TowerBGM76.253Ontario TowerONT76.254Madison TowerMSN76.755Long Beach TowerLGB76.956John Wayne TowerSNA76.957Vero Beach TowerVRB76.958El Paso TowerELP77.159Memphis TowerMEM77.160Norfolk TowerORF77.161Gulfport TowerGPT77.362San Juan TowerSJU77.363Tamiami TowerTMB77.364Bangor TowerBGR77.465Albuquerque TowerABQ77.866Bismarck TowerBIS77.867Hilo TowerITO77.868Myrtle Beach TowerMYR77.869Prescott TowerPRC77.870Pueblo TowerPUB77.871Sanford TowerSFB77.872Savannah TowerSAV78.173Nantucket TowerACK78.674Columbia TowerCAE78.675Concord TowerCCR78.676Camarillo TowerCMA78.677Palomar TowerCRQ78.678Des Moines TowerDSM78.679Bowman TowerLOU78.680Merrill TowerMRI78.681Paine TowerPAE78.682Palo Alto TowerPAO78.683Sonoma TowerSTS78.684Spirit TowerSUS78.685Twin Falls TowerTWF78.686Maui TowerOGG78.987Chattanooga TowerCHA79.288Clarksburg TowerCKB79.289Charleston TowerCHS79.390Asheville TowerAVL80.091Chino TowerCNO80.092Central Florida TRACONF1180.093Lexington TowerLEX80.094Phoenix TowerPHX80.095Corpus Christi TowerCRP80.596Northern California TRACONNCT80.597Wilkes-Barre TowerAVP80.898Bradley TowerBDL81.099Champaign TowerCMI81.0100Lake Charles TowerLCH81.0101Monroe TowerMLU81.0102Knoxville TowerTYS81.1103Dayton TowerDAY81.3104Manchester TowerMHT81.3105Colorado Springs TowerCOS81.5106Atlanta TRACONA8081.8107Columbus TowerCMH81.8108Sioux Falls TowerFSD81.8109Jackson TowerJAN81.8110Salt Lake City TowerSLC81.8111Tuscon TowerTUS81.8112San Diego TowerSAN82.1113San Antonio TowerSAT82.1114Pittsburgh TowerPIT82.2115Wichita TowerICT82.5116Great Falls TowerGTF82.6117Atlanta TowerATL82.7118Denver TowerDEN82.9119Ann Arbor TowerARB83.3120Billings TowerBIL83.3121Columbus TowerCSG83.3122Monterey TowerMRY83.3123Downtown TowerMKC84.2124Waco TowerACT84.6125Dallas Love TowerDAL84.6126Houston Intercontinental TowerIAH84.6127Portland TowerPWM84.6128Seattle TowerSEA84.8

Of particular interest are the short-staffed TRACONs (Terminal Radar Approach Control); these are bigger facilities that assist with landing and departure for larger areas.

In fact, these numbers are a more optimistic view of the staffing shortage. They include fully-certified controllers, those that have transferred from a different facility and getting familiar with a new environment, and those just out of academy who are picking up on-the-job skills.

If looking at just the fully certified controllers, these rates drop even further.

For reference, it takes roughly 2–3 years for an academy graduate to become fully certified.

There are a few interlinked reasons.

As a mentioned earlier, it’s a difficult (and long) training process, which takes a minimum of 2-3 years. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted or paused training and now the system is playing catch-up.

The attrition rate of employees is high due to long hours and on-the-job stress. And finally, there’s a mandatory retirement age (56) which leads to a yearly employee loss.

This shortage is pushing controllers into 60-hour workweeks, in turn leading to a higher burnout rate.

Need more data related to flying? Check Out: All the Things Americans Find Unacceptable on Planes for interesting cultural insights.