The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has partnered with Middle Georgia State University to create the Enhanced AT-CTI program, aiming to address the nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers. This initiative provides advanced training and financial incentives to increase the hiring of qualified professionals in the field.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the FAA has partnered with Middle Georgia State University to become the next school for the FAA’s Enhanced Air Traffic – Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI), allowing more people to get into air traffic facilities and on the job faster. The FAA has a nationwide shortage of roughly 3,000 air traffic controllers.
FAA officials authorized eight programs at seven schools to provide the same thorough curriculum and advanced training technology offered at the FAA’s Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City. Middle Georgia State University will be home to the first program authorized in Georgia.
“We need more of the best and brightest in our towers to make our nation’s air traffic system the envy of the world,” Duffy wrote in a news release. “Enhanced AT-CTI programs like the one at Middle Georgia State University are key to building a next-generation workforce, reducing delays, unlocking the future of aviation.”
Enhanced AT-CTI school students must pass the ATSA, meet the FAA’s medical and security requirements, and pass performance verifications to receive an official endorsement certificate. After meeting the requirements, graduates report directly to an FAA facility to begin their training.
In the Standard AT-CTI, graduates attend the FAA Academy, but can bypass the introductory Air Traffic Basics Course. The FAA also has a year-round hiring opportunity for experienced controllers from the military and private industry, and is enhancing training with modernized simulators to move new hires through training more efficiently, according to the release.