Comments on S. 957

Legislation has been proposed which would provide that civilian air traffic controllers of the Department of Defense (DOD) shall be treated the same as air traffic controllers of the Department of Transportation (DOT) for retirement and second career training program purposes. The bill would also expand the definition of air traffic controller to include those civilian employees of DOD and DOT who are flight service station specialists. Early retirement was extended to controllers to maintain a young, vigorous workforce by assuring controllers of at least 50 percent of their average pay at the age of 50 after 20 years of service. The extension of the air traffic controllers benefits to flight service station specialists was questioned, because major differences exist between the duties and responsibilities of the two. Controllers are assigned to air traffic control centers and towers where they use radar and/or visual observation to monitor, instruct, separate, and control air traffic. The timeliness and accuracy of controllers' decisions are critical and pilots are generally required to comply with their instructions. However, flight service station specialists are located in flight service stations and their work is primarily advisory and administrative in nature; they have no authority to control air traffic. The extension of controllers' benefits to service station specialists has been extensively explored in the past. In each of these studies it was recognized that the work of the specialists was substantially different from, and less responsible and stressful than, that of controllers. GAO believed that the extension of these retirement benefits to flight service station specialists would unnecessarily increase retirement costs and give rise to demands for similar treatment from other employees. Congress should be hesitant to grant preferential treatment to additional groups of Federal employees until it establishes a guiding policy as to the level of benefits the Federal system should provide. Several bills are currently pending before the Congress to improve the operation of the second career training program for controllers. While GAO recognized that the program could be strengthened, it believed that other Federal benefit programs are available to accomplish the same intent, and would strongly oppose the extension of the program to flight service station specialists.