FAA management... well that's probably a bad thing!
But you are correct, you cannot take the human element out of it as we're not 110% perfect. I'll admit I'm not perfect and I'm sure that at some point I'll make an error too during my training and hopefully my trainer or myself will catch those errors before they become serious. I do admit my mistakes and learn from them pretty well... always have.
And the last contract "negotiation" a few years ago was a pure joke and really screwed things up, which is why training these days isn't as good as it could be. I am glad to hear that things will hopefully be getting better soon but these negotiations are taking much longer than everyone anticipated.
FAA management is not "probably" a bad thing. Make no question about it, FAA management is a very bad thing. Check out the "Best Places to Work" survey. FAA was #214 out of 216.
https://employees.faa.gov/news/focusfaa/story/?newsId=58552 That pretty much says it all about our "leaders."
The last negotiations were a farce. The FAA froze hiring until they could impose a B scale salary for new hires. NATCA was urging the agency to begin hiring back in 2001. The reasons for this are many. Traffic volume was down after 9/11, a good time to introduce new trainees into the system. It takes up to 3 years to train someone to full certification at busier facilities. It takes a newly certified controller a few years to become a very good controller on their own. The retirement bubble was going to begin in 2006 (1981 hiring spike + 25 years for first retirement eligibility.)
Unfortunately for the FAA, the timing of the NATCA contract expiration wasn't on the same timeline, although they did extend the contract in 2002. They needed to impose a lower pay scale before all the new trainees were hired, so they had to wait until 2006 to begin hiring in earnest. 5 years too late. NATCA would not sell out the future controllers and FAA did not budge from their original bargaining position, so they imposed the B scale that hopefully will go away when current negotiations are completed.
That is why training is so messed up right now. There are too many trainees in the system. The recommended ratio of trainees to fully certified controllers is 25%. There are many places over 40% right now. No good training can be accomplished with that many people. Instructors are being burned out. Not to mention the brain drain that has occurred over the past 3 years. So many controllers have retired due to the imposed work rules and mismanagement.
Sorry for the 7500 of this thread.
w0x0f