> The air traffic control tower was operated by a contractor, not directly by the Federal Aviation Administration, but the agency is now investigating what happened ...

I know the FAA has been short staffed for sometime, but wondering how common it is to use contractors? which I am guessing is costing at least 2-4x the cost of FAA personal.

> which I am guessing is costing at least 2-4x the cost of FAA personal.

And a private apartment rental is more expensive than a rent controlled one.

There aren't enough FAA staff _because of_ the pay. You can't just magically only use FAA staff in a tower to reduce costs.