More O'Hare errors Controllers nearly doubled their mistakes in 2006.(News)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), January, 2007 | by Ryan, Joseph

Byline: Joseph Ryan Daily Herald Staff Writer Mistakes by air traffic controllers directing planes around O'Hare International Airport nearly doubled in 2006, as probes continue into traffic management at Chicago's busiest landing strip. Air traffic controllers racked up 41 errors last year compared to 21 in 2005, according to Federal Aviation Administration figures released Thursday.

The jump occurred as O'Hare continues to handle fewer planes. O'Hare managed about 958,643 takeoffs and landings last year, down 1.4 percent from 2005. Air traffic controllers blame the errors, in part, on "horrible morale," retiring veterans and hyper-scrutiny under federal probes of their work, said Ray Gibbons, union leader of the controllers at O'Hare's radar facility...