WASHINGTON (AP) — Angry about air traffic controllers sleeping on the job, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he will always find the money to make sure safety is the No. 1 priority in the skies.
Despite Washington’s focus on cutting budgets, LaHood tells NBC’s “Today” that he’ll work with Congress to make sure adequate resources are available to hire “the right number of controllers” who are “well-trained, well-rested and alert in these control towers.”
LaHood’s comments follow four recent episodes in which the FAA says controllers fell asleep while on duty. The most recent case occurred this week when the pilot of a plane transporting a critically ill passenger was unable to raise the sole controller working at 2 a.m. in the tower of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada.
