WASHINGTON (AP)  The government is hiring so many new air traffic controllers to replace departing veterans that it cannot efficiently train them, an inspector general reported Tuesday. The Transportation Department's inspector general said the Federal Aviation Administration is so swamped with new hires that it has exceeded its own maximum trainee numbers at 22% of its 314 air control facilities. The FAA uses a database replete with erroneous information to manage the training program and has failed to implement remedial steps the agency itself promised in 2004, the IG report added. Even inside the FAA, it wasn't clear who was in charge because four vice presidents at FAA headquarters have authority over some part of hiring and training controllers. "Facility managers, training managers and even headquarters officials were unable to tell us who or what office was ultimately responsible for facility training," the IG report said. In a written response, the FAA accepted most of the IG's recommendations. But the FAA rejected the idea of making public an accurate count each year of how many fully certified controllers and how many trainees work in each of its facilities. Noting the figures change frequently, the FAA said, "Publishing annual static snapshots of total trainees by facility will be of little meaningful use." The FAA has known for decades it would have to replace a major portion of its work force during a few years early in the 21st century because President Reagan fired 10,438 controllers in 1981. After Reagan broke an earlier controllers union during that contract dispute, replacements were hired over a few ensuing years. The FAA began issuing plans for this hiring surge in 2004 and earlier this year said it expects to hire 17,000 controllers through 2017. But the FAA has consistently underestimated how many controllers would retire or quit since the fall of 2006 when the Bush administration declared an impasse in contract negotiations. The FAA imposed new work rules, a 30% cut in starting pay, a freeze on base pay of current controllers and elimination of their premium pay opportunities. The IG's report said the imposed contract cut top pay from $143,984 to $106,200 and starting pay from $44,800 to $37,800. "This report is vindication," said Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "Three years ago we urged them not to impose what they did because it would exacerbate this problem they knew was coming. With work schedules being changed daily, vacations being canceled and more time required on work positions, our veteran members are saying, 'I'm out of here.' Under the old contract, far fewer controllers retired as soon as they were eligible." Forrey said the result has eroded safety margins and increased delays in the air traffic system. The FAA denies the system is unsafe. The IG report said that, from 2005 through last December, to fill vacancies the FAA hired 25% more controllers than it had expected. As of December, there were 11.026 fully qualified controllers and 3,584 in training, compared with 12,328 veterans and 2,209 trainees in April 2004. New hires off the street or emerging from the FAA academy and even veteran controllers transferring to a new facility all must undergo on-the-job training to qualify to work each radar position at their new workplace. This can take up to three years before they are fully certified to work all stations. The FAA says that each facility can accommodate up to 35% trainees and still control air traffic and train the new hires. But the IG found that 70 facilities exceeded that limit last December, compared with only 22 facilities over the limit in April 2004. Among the 70 were the Teterboro, N.J., tower where 52% were trainees, Las Vegas Terminal Radar Approach Control, with 50% trainees; and Oakland, center, with 38% trainees. FAA's hiring "is now outpacing the capabilities of many air traffic facilities to efficiently process and train new hires," the IG said. "Many facility managers, training officers and union officials we spoke with disagreed with the FAA's" view that 35% of a facility's controllers could be trainees and instead believe trainees should not exceed 20% to 25% of a facility's staff, the IG said. The report recommended the FAA work with field managers and union officials to set optimal targets for each type of facility. The IG also said the FAA must clean up its training database, where the investigators found such errors as: four terminals that claimed their average time to fully train a new hire was a negative number, one terminal that listed a trainee as fully certified six months before he even arrived at the facility and one control tower that showed it took almost eight years apiece to certify two trainees. And the IG found that the FAA never fulfilled promises in 2004 to make training a priority second only to operations and to make sure that training at facilities picked up where academy instruction left off. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. 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