FAA Air Traffic Control agreement with UND fast tracks graduates to fill needed jobs – UND Today

Beginning this spring, Air Traffic Management graduates can bypass the FAA Academy and go directly into the workforce

Students graduating from UND’s Air Traffic Management program soon will be able to get into the workforce much faster — and fill vital jobs — thanks to a new Federal Aviation Administration program.

On Monday, Dec. 9, the FAA announced that UND has been accepted into its Enhanced Air Traffic – Collegiate Training Initiative program. Prior to the implementation of this program, all prospective air traffic controllers were required to attend the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City — even if they had a university degree that trained them to work in a control tower. The FAA’s agreement with UND means graduates can bypass the FAA Academy. The AT-CTI program is an FAA initiative to increase staffing in towers across the nation.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who played a key role in driving the Enhanced AT-CTI program forward, visited UND in March to speak about the initiative. Hoeven said the requirement for controllers to attend the FAA Academy, regardless of education or work experience, creates a “bottleneck” that slows down hiring and contributes to a shortage of air traffic controllers.

“Today, we reach an exciting milestone in our efforts to address the air traffic controller shortage, while ensuring UND continues to lead the way across the board when it comes to aviation. We need more qualified air traffic controllers out in the workforce, and it makes sense to leverage the expertise of the John D. Odegard School of Aviation to meet this critical need. That’s why, throughout this process, we made the case to the FAA for UND to play a central role in the new Enhanced AT-CTI program,” said Hoeven. “Starting in the 2025 spring semester, UND’s students will have the opportunity to bypass the FAA ATC Academy in Oklahoma and go directly into the workforce after graduation. That’s an incredible value to students and a benefit to communities across that country, whose local economies rely on safe and reliable air service.”

UND is among the first universities to be admitted into the program. Other member schools are Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Tulsa Community College and the University of Oklahoma.

Along with 31 other universities, UND is already a member of the FAA’s existing Air Traffic College Training Initiative. The original program confers a number of benefits, such as reducing the amount of time graduates must spend at the FAA Academy by five weeks. The Enhanced AT-CTI program allows those graduates to bypass the 16-week program completely.

Robert Kraus, dean of Aerospace, said that UND has a tradition of deep commitment to excellence in aerospace education. That tradition will carry on into the future, as the University works with the FAA to assess and address changes in the national airspace.

“Since graduating its first air traffic controllers in 1971, UND Aerospace has more than 50 years of experience in educating and training air traffic professionals who now serve across the industry and around the globe,” Kraus said. “This ongoing commitment continues as we collaborate with the FAA to shape the future of airspace management, including the integration of uncrewed aerial systems (drones) and Advanced Air Mobility platforms.”

After finishing their time at UND, Air Traffic Management graduates must then pass the FAA’s Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA), meet medical and security requirements and pass performance verifications before taking up work in a control tower, or other authorized work environment.

Many aerospace students at UND are taught by Craig Carlson, assistant chair of UND’s Air Traffic Management program. Carlson applauded the FAA team that set the Enhanced AT-CTI program in motion. The program, he said, will help ensure the safety of U.S. airways.

“I look forward to providing the FAA with highly qualified UND graduates to help alleviate the current air traffic controller shortage,” he said. “This program is just what we need to grow the workforce and keep air passengers safe.”

And safety is always on the minds of those both in UND Aerospace and the FAA. According to a news release, the agency has a year-round hiring policy for controllers coming from private industry and the military. The agency also is making use of new simulators to help train newly hired controllers. The Enhanced AT-CTI program is the most recent effort meant to address workforce issues for controllers.

The new FAA program also will put UND in a position for growth, Carlson said. At present, there are about 100 students in the Air Traffic Management program, but that number could triple in the coming years, when prospective students learn they can join the workforce much more quickly after graduation. Such growth also would require UND to hire additional faculty members to accommodate students in the program.

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Adam Kurtz
is a 2000 graduate of the University of North Dakota. In 2002 he moved to Japan to teach English. There he met his wife and started a family, and returned to North Dakota with them in 2019. He worked as a reporter at the Grand Forks Herald before joining the Division of Marketing & Communications at UND in mid-2022 as the Strategic Communications Writer.