--- title: FAA and PASS working together to improve staffing and safety issues description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Dave Spero from PASS joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/AWF-blog-image-template_PASS_blue.jpg --- 1 min read Season 4, Episode 176 # FAA and PASS working together to improve staffing and safety issues [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) September 5, 2023 [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [Government](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/government) [Jobs](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/jobs) [Health, Welfare, and Safety](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/health-welfare-and-safety) [AWF](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/awf) [Contracts](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/contracts) [Labor-Management](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/labor-management) [Government Affairs and Policy](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/government-affairs-and-policy) [Union Responsibilities](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/union-responsibilities) [Congress](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/congress) [PASS](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/pass) ![AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_PASS](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_PASS.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_PASS.jpg)   Guest Name: --- Dave Spero Guest Website: --- [https://www.passnational.org/](https://www.passnational.org/)  Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/PASSNational/) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/PASSNational) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/PASSNational/videos?app=desktop) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/professional-aviation-safety-specialists-pass/) Supportive Documents: --- National President for the [Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS)](https://www.passnational.org/), Dave Spero, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the operations and work completed by his organization. Spero also discussed the Federal Aviation Agency’s issues with funding and staffing and their efforts to improve their workforce through an internship program. PASS has been in operation since 1977 and represents around 11,000 employees in the FAA. The work done by PASS covers air traffic control to national defense plans. They develop safety and procedural operations in the industry and certify the safety of fleets.  The FAA’s funding stream is broken right now, Spero said. Not only is PASS struggling with staffing, but also with proper tooling for the tasks on the job. The Operational Control Center works as the FAA’s version of a 911 call center, and they dispatch PASS workers to operate on airplanes and service the tools needed for the industry. Unfortunately, the Center currently doesn’t have enough workers to properly staff the center, and many calls are being delayed longer than acceptable. Spero said. PASS is working with the FAA as part of the Gateway to Internship program. The agency and PASS have been working on the program for about a year and a half. The plan is to hire almost 200 workers from the program in the coming years. Spero shared more details about the training and goals of the program. To hear more about the work done by PASS, please play the episode above. --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... 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