The controller shortage

Boris Badenov said:
You've summoned the Bald-Is-Beautiful Brigade, as surely as if you'd said "Baldyjeuce, Baldyjeuce, Baldyjeuce". Thanks for nothing.
Click to expand...


Image of
 
funny, didn't they kill the CTI preferential hiring for the academy like 10 years ago?
oopsie daisy
 
bimmerphile said:
funny, didn't they kill the CTI preferential hiring for the academy like 10 years ago?
oopsie daisy
Click to expand...

No, it still exists. They just re-opened the off the street hiring with be preference for CTi grads so the program became kind of moot, and frankly there is almost no discernible difference between someone who went to CTI and someone hired off the street.

Hopefully, the way they are doing it now will result in the CTI programs having a standardized curriculum and FAA oversight. Previously the quality of schools and what they taught varied widely.

This is a good thing though. The academy is a huge bottleneck and letting cti’s go straight to a facility will hopefully help a lot. Whether someone considers it worth it to pay tuition for 2-4 years to learn the same thing the academy teaches (while being paid) in 3-4 months is up to each individual.
 
NovemberEcho said:
No, it still exists. They just re-opened the off the street hiring with be preference for CTi grads so the program became kind of moot, and frankly there is almost no discernible difference between someone who went to CTI and someone hired off the street.

Hopefully, the way they are doing it now will result in the CTI programs having a standardized curriculum and FAA oversight. Previously the quality of schools and what they taught varied widely.

This is a good thing though. The academy is a huge bottleneck and letting cti’s go straight to a facility will hopefully help a lot. Whether someone considers it worth it to pay tuition for 2-4 years to learn the same thing the academy teaches (while being paid) in 3-4 months is up to each individual.
Click to expand...

That CTI had so much potential. It was just poorly implemented. It was like giving a dog a bone, but no real meat.
 
MikeD said:
Next up. Riddle air science grads direct to mainline FO upon graduation.
Click to expand...
this has been done...flew with a bunch of new FO's at F9 that were flying an airbus with a Riddle degree and year of instruction...None of them had Jet time, 121/135 time or anything bigger than a Seminole, a few had never flown out of Florida till they got to OE

...a few didn't have enough ME to get the ATP (needed a few extra sims just to meet min ATP reqs.)
 
CFIT99 said:
this has been done...flew with a bunch of new FO's at F9 that were flying an airbus with a Riddle degree and year of instruction...None of them had Jet time, 121/135 time or anything bigger than a Seminole, a few had never flown out of Florida till they got to OE

...a few didn't have enough ME to get the ATP (needed a few extra sims just to meet min ATP reqs.)
Click to expand...
It was done at Spirit as well; I have a few friends who are FOIs. They did not merely teach ground school and the like as typed instructors, but did quite a lot around the office insofar as the grunt work of airline programs and manuals and Stuff(tm) with the FAA.
 
MikeD said:
Next up. Riddle air science grads direct to mainline FO upon graduation.
Click to expand...

In this case they’re learning the same basics that they do at the academy but in college and then go straight to their facility rather than having to do it all over again at the academy. They’ll still have to do normal OJT at their facility like everyone else. It’s basically like a flight school offers ground training that you need to finish before flight lessons or you can do Sporty’s beforehand and just start flight lessons.
 
I've been to the FAA academy 3 times, once for each different subcategory of ATC, each time I went there were fewer students and instructors, and generally just less people and traffic around the academy. I don't know if this is going to make a discernible difference on the floor. The difference in training quality facility to facility also varies greatly. The FAA really needs to get serious about training, and they have not been for a long time. I don't see them having any more oversight of the CTI schools than they ever have. In my experience there are 2 CTI schools that are worth the money (based on the quality of controllers they produce): Community College of Beaver County, and University of North Dakota. People who really want to get good training should just join the air force or the navy. If you think staffing is bad now wait until the wave of people who were hired between 2008-2012 start to retire.
 
NovemberEcho said:
In this case they’re learning the same basics that they do at the academy but in college and then go straight to their facility rather than having to do it all over again at the academy. They’ll still have to do normal OJT at their facility like everyone else. It’s basically like a flight school offers ground training that you need to finish before flight lessons or you can do Sporty’s beforehand and just start flight lessons.
Click to expand...

That’s good if it’s a program that actually does work. And helps alleviate the shortage without lowering any standards.
 
For en route hires specifically, the academy is nothing more than a screen. What they teach there for en route doesn't even resemble what happens in real life. The centers seem to be the most critically staffed anyway, they need to open up FAA staff positions so that en route controllers who don't want to retire can continue to work as training specialists at centers. Once that is in place they should allow centers to do direct hiring. That is the way to fix this. The centers can do their own screening based on their needs, and everyone they hire will probably be local or semi-local to the center, so they will likely have a happier career.
 
greg1016 said:
For en route hires specifically, the academy is nothing more than a screen. What they teach there for en route doesn't even resemble what happens in real life. The centers seem to be the most critically staffed anyway, they need to open up FAA staff positions so that en route controllers who don't want to retire can continue to work as training specialists at centers. Once that is in place they should allow centers to do direct hiring. That is the way to fix this. The centers can do their own screening based on their needs, and everyone they hire will probably be local or semi-local to the center, so they will likely have a happier career.
Click to expand...
This would solve so many issues at the ARTCC level. If we could stop getting people sent to Palmdale against their will, who have absolutely 0 intention of staying at ZLA, and stop investing 3-4 years of training and resources into them for them to immediately find a way out, it would be massive. And I know it's like that at other Centers. ZOA calls it the ZYRTEC1 Departure because the only way out of Fremont is to scam a hardship for allergies.

Ill never understand why they cant put up ads in the SFV, Ventura County, Bakersfield...advertising this great job in Palmdale. Tie the kids into a contract to not transfer out for 10+ years and you have a pretty good staffing pipeline. I imagine you could do the same kind of thing nationwide for all the Centers. Makes too much sense for the FAA to ever attempt, unfortunately.
 
nabbyfan said:
This would solve so many issues at the ARTCC level. If we could stop getting people sent to Palmdale against their will, who have absolutely 0 intention of staying at ZLA, and stop investing 3-4 years of training and resources into them for them to immediately find a way out, it would be massive. And I know it's like that at other Centers. ZOA calls it the ZYRTEC1 Departure because the only way out of Fremont is to scam a hardship for allergies.

Ill never understand why they cant put up ads in the SFV, Ventura County, Bakersfield...advertising this great job in Palmdale. Tie the kids into a contract to not transfer out for 10+ years and you have a pretty good staffing pipeline. I imagine you could do the same kind of thing nationwide for all the Centers. Makes too much sense for the FAA to ever attempt, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
I'd like to announce my candidacy for NATCA President 2027. I've got lots of other great ideas that no one wants to hear. :bounce:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top