GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Federal Aviation Administration approves the University of North Dakota’s application to the Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative Program.
Students will be able to participate in the same curriculum provided by the FAA Academy in the spring semester. Once they graduate, they will immediately be eligible to be hired and train at a local air traffic facility. They also must pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment exam and meet medical and security requirements.
Before this agreement, UND graduates were only able to skip the first five weeks of training at the FAA Academy.
Senator John Hoeven said he pushed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker for UND to be able to make this agreement.
“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. Odegaard School of Aviation to meet this critical need,” Hoeven said.
The FAA reauthorization bill Congress passed earlier this year includes legislation Hoeven cosponsored requiring the FAA to use a more accurate staffing model developed by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization. The bill also sets an updated minimum hiring target for new air traffic controllers.
