Hiring Efforts Producing Results, Agency Says
The Federal Aviation Administration
says it is on schedule in its plan to hire and train nearly 17,000
air traffic controllers over the next decade. The FAA hired over
1,800 controllers last year, and expects to hire nearly 1,900 in
fiscal year 2008. The details are laid out in the Controller
Workforce Plan released April 1.
"We’re on target, and our newly hired controllers are
highly motivated," said Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell.
"Significant improvements in the way we recruit, hire and train
people are helping us manage through this predicted transition
period."
According to the agency, data show key improvements in training
methods lowered the training time to become a fully certified
controller from an average of three to five years to an average of
two to three years. The standards to become a Certified
Professional Controller remain the same, so the FAA takes credit
for the improved training scores, saying developmentals reach
required proficiency goals sooner.
Other training improvements include the addition of 18 new tower
simulators to air traffic facilities throughout the nation and six
new simulators to the FAA’s Air Traffic Controller Academy in
Oklahoma City. Twenty-one new classes were added to the FAA Academy
in order to accommodate the growing enrollment.
Also notably, the number of colleges and universities accredited
to teach air traffic control as part of a college degree -- called
Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) schools -- increased by nine
last year, to 23 total.
FAA representatives tell ANN the training improvements go
hand-in-hand with recruitment initiatives that resulted in
thousands of applications in fiscal 2007. Pre-employment processing
centers provide one-stop shopping for invited candidates, allowing
them to have final interviews and medical and security screenings
in the same location on the same day.
Other recruitment efforts include nationwide announcements, a
bonus of up to $20,000 for eligible military and civilian hires
with previous controller experience, and participation in
recruitment fairs nationwide, including the NAACP Diversity Job
Fair and the Congressional Black Caucus Diversity Job Fair. The
agency is also using retention incentives to keep veteran
controllers on the job longer.
According to the FAA, over 800 controllers hired after
the 1981 PATCO strike retired in 2007. The FAA began submitting a
workforce plan to Congress in 2004 outlining its plans to recruit,
hire and train new controllers to meet the increasing number of
retirements. The agency expects to finish the year with a
controller workforce of 15,130, a net increase of 256 from the
previous year.