AUSTIN, Texas — As Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) continues the process of expanding in an effort to accommodate growth and a rise in passenger traffic, the airport is struggling to fill empty positions.
City leaders were able to hear from the Aviation Department's Chief Financial Officer, Rajeev Thomas, during a budget work session on July 30 about where the department stands with staffing.
Thomas noted the challenges lie with the "hard-to-fill" positions, which include carpenters, plumbers, electricians and engineers.
"We have been posting positions for airport ops, etc. at all the airport-related sites, and we do not get candidates," Thomas said.
AUS has an 18% vacancy rate compared to the 38% the airport saw in January 2023, according to an airport spokesperson. Currently, there are 121 open positions, which are in "various stages of the recruitment process."
The reason there is a hardship to attract new hires is the high cost of living in Austin and the "very low" unemployment rate.
In a statement, the airport said it is doing everything in its power to attain the employees needed:
"We are doing everything we can to hire Department of Aviation employees to support current operations, deliver the expansion, and when the time comes, staff the future operations of an expanded AUS.
However, hiring goes beyond Department of Aviation employees; we have also been hiring expert design and construction teams through the city procurement process and look forward to working with current and future contracted firms to support them as they build their own teams to design, build, construct and activate our expansion projects."
District 2 Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes expressed concern over the vacancy rate during the budget session. On Thursday, Fuentes released the following statement:
"As our airport continues to grow, we must ensure it’s fully staffed, maintained, and equipped for reliable operations. AUS has made great strides over the past year, reducing the Aviation Department’s vacancy rate from over 35% to 19%. Through initiatives such as the comprehensive workforce study and our City Infrastructure Academy, I'm confident we can continue the trend and uphold our commitment to fully staffing our airport workforce."
Thomas and council members also pointed to a 10% retention bonus that was not factored into the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 city budget.
"Once that 10% goes away, I mean, it will affect a lot of operational staff," Thomas said.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax said he will be working with the city's Human Resources and the compensation team.
KVUE reached out to the city. A spokesperson shared the following statement:
"As we do for all our City departments, we perform market studies on a regular basis to ensure that the City of Austin’s employee compensation and benefits package are in line with comparable public and private employers. We are completing a recent market study for Airport staffing and will be implementing identified adjustments."