Schools Providing Same Curriculum, Training As Oklahoma City Academy

The FAA and the State University of New York Schenectady County Community College have signed an agreement for the school to become the next institution for the Agency’s Enhanced Air Traffic – Collegiate Training Initiative, or AT-CTI.

Seven such programs at six schools are now authorized to present the same thorough curriculum and advanced training that the FAA offers at its Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

To earn an FAA endorsement certification, students must pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment meet the agency’s medical and security requirements, and pass performance verifications. Only then can graduates advance to an FAA facility to begin their training.

Sean P. Duffy, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary explained, “The Trump administration is taking aggressive action to supercharge the air traffic controller workforce. By expanding the FAA Academy’s extensive curriculum to colleges like SUNY Schenectady, we’re making it more accessible for the best and brightest to pursue a career as air traffic controllers—helping to ensure air travel remains the safest mode of transportation."

In addition to SUNY Schenectady, the FAA has signed an agreement with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach facility in Florida to provide the agency’s En Route program. Students go through a similar process as the tower training program, but they will specialize in en route communications with aircraft in the flight levels above 18,000 feet MSL.

It’s slightly different from the standard AT-CTI where graduates go to the FAA Air Traffic Controller Academy but can skip the Air Traffic Basics Course.

The FAA is accepting online applications from schools interested in becoming an Enhanced AT-CTI institution.

FMI:  www.sunysccc.edu/ , www.faa.gov/