GAO Warns of Aviation Weather Staffing Crisis

Federal aviation weather services face staffing shortfalls that could affect forecasts and safety.

On September 11, 2025, a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report warned of an emerging aviation weather staffing crisis: the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) command center has just four of six aviation meteorologist positions filled. The report says airlines have stepped in with in-house weather teams while the FAA and the National Weather Service (NWS) review hiring exceptions and structural changes.

Aviation weather staffing: what’s at stake

GAO analysts told lawmakers that stretched meteorologists risk degraded forecast quality and reduced situational awareness for air traffic operations. That matters for every phase of flight — dispatch planning, reroutes around convective cells, and tactical decisions during rapidly changing conditions. The FAA and NWS are actively discussing short-term staffing flexibilities, but a current agreement that governs some shared services is set to expire on September 30, 2025, raising concerns about service continuity.

Airlines have already begun relying on their own meteorological teams to fill gaps, a stopgap that varies by carrier and can create inconsistent information flows into dispatch and air traffic control. The GAO flagged this uneven coverage and recommended more robust workforce planning to avoid single points of failure.

Key fact: only four of six FAA command-center meteorologist roles are filled — central to the aviation weather staffing concern.
GAO report date: September 11, 2025; agreement expiry: September 30, 2025.
Potential impacts: degraded forecast accuracy, slower advisories, and gaps in aviation-specific briefings.

FAA and NWS officials have acknowledged the staffing strain publicly and say they are evaluating hiring authorities and operational changes to keep critical weather services online. Meanwhile, industry observers say transparent contingency plans and cross-agency coordination will be essential if the short-term agreement lapses at the end of September.