Pay raise offered to retain Defense air traffic controllers

Defense Department officials are hoping a 5 percent premium raise will convince their civilian air traffic controllers to stop transferring to the Federal Aviation Administration. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz announced the raise to department heads in an April 28 memo. The memo said the raise was effective immediately. "Based on current DoD retention and recruitment patterns, I have determined that premium pay is appropriate and necessary to ensure mission capability at this time," Wolfowitz said in the memo. In the five years since the FAA was allowed to establish its own pay and job classification system, the Defense Department has increasingly lost air traffic controllers to the agency. According to the Office of Personnel Management, the attrition rate for Defense's controllers has been stable since FAA got its special authorities, but higher percentages of those who leave go to the FAA. "Air traffic controllers at DoD are transferring in large numbers to the Federal Aviation Administration for significantly higher salaries," said Bobby Harnage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. To stem the tide of transfers to the FAA, Defense officials formed a working group on controllers in August. The group included representatives from the Defense Civilian Personnel Management Service, the civilian personnel staffs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the National Guard, AFGE, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the SPORT Air Traffic Controllers Association. While investigating recruitment and retention flexibilities, the group found that the average salary for FAA controllers was $86,511, while the average salary for Defense controllers was $51,869. "This pay imbalance warrants, at a minimum, a 30 percent system-wide salary increase for DoD air traffic controllers," Harnage said. "While this will not achieve immediate pay parity, it will dramatically improve morale, productivity and safety throughout the system." In its recommendations released in April, the group suggested the 5 percent pay raise as a short-term solution. Long-term changes, such as giving retention allowances to employees considering employment at other federal agencies and offering special salary rates in certain locations, should also be considered, the group said.