FAA expands controller training

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicts 1,000 new controllers will graduate this year under the agency's recruitment drive to hire 17,000 new staff over the next 10 years.

Acting Administrator Lynne Osmus told Congress in February 2009: "We exceeded our hiring goals for FY08 [Fiscal Year 2008], and we are on track to meet our end of year hiring goal in FY09. We've hired 5000 new controllers over the past three years."

The programme was launched in 2004 in order to replace retiring controllers. It includes incentives for ex-controllers to return to the profession and ex-military controllers to transfer to civil operations. "We have a record number of applicants," said Osmus.

The FAA supported the programme by extending the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) status to a growing number of training institutions. Initially awarded to a handful of specialist centres, by the end of 2008 some 31 colleges had joined the CTI programme. The approved colleges offer a non-engineering aviation degree and prepare and train students interested in a career as an air traffic controller. The courses run from two to four years, and are based around classroom training. More than 4,000 students have graduated from CTI aviation courses since 2004, of which 3,000 have been hired by the FAA.