Amid hiring surge, FAA taps outside schools to boost air traffic controller training

The Federal Aviation Administration has signed first-of-their-kind agreements with two schools to train new hires to be air traffic controllers, with the agency hoping to continue and build upon its recent success in adding more staff. 

Currently, FAA trains all of its hires exclusively at its in-house Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City. Under the new agreements, the training program will also take place at Tulsa Community College and the University of Oklahoma. 

The announcement comes as FAA is seeking to reverse a longstanding decline in its air traffic controller workforce. It received some relief in that effort earlier this year when Congress reauthorized the agency and tasked it with hiring to the maximum extent possible for the next five years. FAA hired 1,500 controllers in 2023 and eclipsed its goal of bringing on 1,800 in fiscal 2024. 

The agency now has 14,000 ATCs on staff, with 3,400 currently in various stages of training. The new partnerships will help ensure more individuals can make it through the training pipeline.

“The FAA is working to hire and train more air traffic controllers, in order to reverse the decades-long decline in our workforce and ensure the safety of the flying public,” said FAA Administrator Mikchael Whitaker, who added the new training opportunities will aid in those efforts. “We’re excited to have these schools become pioneers in this initiative and look forward to seeing more applications from schools as we build out these partnerships.”

New hires attending one of the new schools will go through the same curriculum and have access to the same technology as those who go through the FAA academy. Upon receiving their certifications, they will go straight to an FAA facility for their final training. They will still have to pass a final skills assessment exam before starting in their roles. An existing program enables candidates to attend preliminary training at campuses around the country, but those individuals still must attend the official FAA academy. 

The recent reauthorization package dropped a provision the Senate had originally included to require a second training academy for air traffic controllers, instead requiring expanded capacity at the existing facility.

Agency officials, the White House and lawmakers in both parties have stressed that growing FAA's workforce is a top priority and a failure to address it could reduce safety and increase flight delays. According to recent findings by the National Airspace System Safety Review Team that FAA formed after 10 safety incidents occurred in late 2022 and early 2023, the staffing reductions occurred despite a marked increase in the complexity of the agency’s operations.

Staffing shortages led to a constant reshuffling of resources to ensure the airspace could function and an all-time high in the use of overtime. That, in turn, led to more absenteeism, lower productivity and increased fatigue. Insufficient staffing has forced FAA in recent years to negotiate schedule reductions with certain areas to maintain the safety of operations, implement more ground stops and combine locations to fall under one post.

The agency is still in a hiring posture going forward and has a new application window opening Oct. 11. It is also in the process of installing modernized simulators at 95 facilities by the end of 2025, which it said would make training efforts more efficient. FAA is also looking for more schools to join as training partners.