DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Federal Aviation Administration has signed an agreement with Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University to offer a program aimed at reducing the nationwide air traffic controller shortage.
According to a news release, the Enhanced Air Traffic – Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) will be offered at the university in Daytona Beach, only the third school to offer the program.
ERAU will join Tulsa Community College and the University of Oklahoma to “offer the same thorough curriculum and advanced technology” offered at the FAA Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City.
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“The FAA is working to strengthen our controller workforce and create a continuous pipeline of talent,” said Tim Arel, Chief Operating Officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization. “The safety of the National Airspace System and the traveling public is always our number one priority. Working with schools like Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University will continue that mission.”
Embry-Riddle Air Traffic Management Program Coordinator and Associate Professor Michael McCormick said this program will help get students out of the classroom and into the profession quicker than normal.
“(After graduation) you have to go through all the medical security screening prior to going (to the academy), and then you finally get to class. You’re there for three to four months and then finally go to the air traffic control facility. So, we’re shortcutting that by a couple of years,” he explained.
McCormick said the decline in air traffic controllers is the result of several factors.
“Over time, there’s been a shortage of air traffic controllers that have grown in the Federal Aviation Administration, primarily due to two things, lapses in budgets, which means they can’t hire and the second thing was the pandemic,” he said. “During the pandemic, they couldn’t hire air traffic controllers for over a year.”
Now that they can accredit students directly at the school, starting with the spring 2025 graduates, McCormick is ready to help even more “hidden heroes” enter the profession.
“When you get to your destination, and you get to hug your children, when the children get to visit their grandparents, that’s all because of air traffic control, they deliver you safely,” he said. “I love air traffic control. I’m passionate about control. So anything that I can do to contribute to fixing the problem and also helping to create the air traffic control system in the future. I love to be a part of it.”
According to the FAA, the Enhanced AT-CTI was created to allow qualified institutions to provide their students with equivalent FAA Academy air traffic control training. To do this, the school will be upgrading its facility to mirror the academy’s, including a new simulation system.
“We will be the first in the country to have a simulator system that will be completely networked together,” McCormick said.
“The agency will continue to take aggressive action to increase our controller workforce. In 2023, the FAA hired 1,500 controllers and this year hired more than 1,800. The FAA’s goal is to hire 2,000 controllers in 2025,” the release said in part.
