by albawaba.com — The next time you fly into or out of Beirut, take a moment to think about the air traffic controllers monitoring the skies and runways to make sure you’re safe. Or don’t – they’re overworked, undertrained and underpaid, representatives say. “It is a safety problem,” said Ali Hammoud, the head of the executive committee of the Lebanese Air Traffic Controllers Association, or LebATCA. “If you have somebody working more than he should, that’s a problem.” Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport has just 19 certified air traffic controllers, Hammoud said. Along with six or seven retiree holdovers and 19 uncertified assistants, they make sure some 350 flights take off and land safely and efficiently every day. “In order to work normally, we need 65,” Hammoud said. Under the law, there should be 106, according to another air traffic controller, who asked to remain anonymous since he is not authorized to speak to the press. “We need staff, we need training, we need … intensive care,” the controller said.

That was the primary grievance behind their one-hour strike on May 16. Air traffic controllers were trying to pressure Cabinet – then in its last week before lapsing into caretaker status – to take swift action. Cabinet came through on that count, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri signing decrees to hire 25 new trainees and promote 17 current controllers, Hammoud said. Those decrees, however, still need President Michel Aoun’s signature. A representative of Baabda Palace told The Daily Star that the decree for hiring trainees was before the president’s legal committee. Cabinet also extended the contracts for the retiree holdovers – a necessary stopgap measure, according to Hammoud. Brought on two years ago to allow time to bring new trainees up to speed, the retirees got another one-year extension, he said. A separate matter concerns pay. Hammoud argues that the government is misconstruing an article specific to air traffic controllers in the 2017 salary scale law, essentially slashing their raise by half. He wanted Cabinet to issue a clarifying directive before it went into caretaker status, but that did not happen. Pay appears to be a secondary concern – the anonymous controller told The Daily Star that they only cared about recruiting new staff. Even if Aoun signs the decrees tomorrow, new recruits “need at least three years of theory and on-the-job training,” the controller said. “This is a long-term procedure.” And if Aoun fails to sign the decrees? Hammoud didn’t rule out another strike, but said any such decision would be taken with a heavy heart. “We know [the airport] is the only gate” into and out of Lebanon. But at the same time, he said, this is an issue that can’t be ignored, because it affects the safety of passengers and air crews.

 

As recently as 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization expressed that Lebanon had significant safety concerns, meaning the government was “not providing sufficient safety oversight to ensure the effective implementation of applicable ICAO standards.” That designation was dropped in June 2016, but Lebanon still lags behind the world average in six of eight categories tracked by the ICAO. In the air navigation services category, which covers air traffic control, the ICAO gives Lebanon a 39 percent implementation rate, compared to a world average of around 63 percent. Nevertheless, Beirut is safe to fly to, Hammoud said. Despite the personnel issues, “we are within the [acceptable] limits.” “We are doing the best we can,” he added, “although the traffic isn’t [yet] as intense as it will be in the summer.” This article has been adapted from its original source.