Hoeven wants UND to be first to graduate fully-certified air traffic controllers

Mar. 2—GRAND FORKS — A handful of colleges across the United States will shortly become eligible to graduate air traffic controllers directly into the workforce — and Sen. John Hoeven wants UND to be the first.

Speaking among prospective air traffic controllers at Ryan Hall's Air Traffic Control Radar lab, Hoeven, R-N.D., told the students and recent graduates they may soon be able to complete their training without leaving UND via the Federal Aviation Administration's new Enhanced Air Traffic — Collegiate Training Initiative.

The initiative, announced last month, will allow graduates of qualifying degree programs to bypass training at the FAA's Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City. Instead, graduates will be able to immediately begin training at a localized air traffic facility.

"We want to and intend to be the first school in the nation to do this," Hoeven said.

Shortages of air traffic controllers dog airports across the United States. An FAA report from November found there were 1,002 fewer fully-certified air traffic controllers in August 2023 than 11 years earlier.

National news outlets like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have painted a picture of overtaxed and burned out employees across the industry, and the FAA announced a panel in December to address air traffic controller fatigue after a series of near-miss incidents, Reuters reported.

"There's a tremendous demand for air traffic controllers," Hoeven said. "We need pilots, we need planes and you've seen these issues at the airport because we need air traffic controllers."

The November FAA report identified a bottleneck of candidates into the FAA Academy, where air traffic controller candidates are required to graduate to become certified.

UND is already one of 31 schools across the nation part of the Air Traffic — Collegiate Training Initiative, meaning graduates can skip the first five weeks of initial qualification training, but they still have to complete the final stretch of training in Oklahoma City.

Two graduates of UND's air traffic management program, Aundraya Johnson and Danny Lilya, were present in the Radar Lab working as university air traffic associates. They both expected a year's wait in order to bid for a spot at the FAA Academy.

Craig Carlson, associate professor of aviation, noted that this was par for the course for his air traffic associates.

"Years ago, I would hire an ATC one day and they'd come in on their first day and tell me, 'I'm sorry, I've been hired by the FAA,'" he said.

Colleges like UND that already participate in the AT-CTI program can apply for the Enhanced AT-CTI program in April 2024, with plans for the first in the 2024-25 school year.

The FAA will oversee all program requirements; graduates will still have to pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment as well as meeting medical and security requirements.

"When it comes to aviation, nobody does it better," Hoeven said. "Part of being the best is when there's a problem out there, you're the first one to solve it."