Training proposal criticized

Members of the air-traffic controllers union claim an effort to cut a year off the time it takes to train a controller is jeopardizing the safety of fliers and causing potentially deadly errors. The Federal Aviation Administration immediately rejected claims by the workers at Chicago Center in Aurora, which handles high-altitude air traffic over seven Midwestern states. FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said Chicago Center and other facilities are working to trim the four to five years it traditionally takes to fully train a newly hired air-traffic controller down to three years. But Jeffrey Richards of the National Air Traffic Controllers Union said the FAA is headed toward certifying individuals to be controllers before they are ready.