Students work in a simulated tower environment at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City on July 9. Photo credit: Nick Oxford/For The Washington Post
Oklahoma City: Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration welcomed 600 recruits to its academy in Oklahoma City - the biggest class ever, and a sign, the agency said, that the high-profile push to aggressively ramp up hiring was yielding results.
But behind the scenes, internal documents viewed by The Washington Post showed the agency was scrambling. A shortage of qualified instructors for air traffic controllers - a problem even before the surge in enrollment - was forcing managers to plead with those on staff to pick up extra shifts, even though many are already putting in 60-hour weeks.
An instructor points to a radar screen in the En Route ATC Simulation Lab. Photo credit: Nick Oxford/For The Washington Post
“If you’re feeling brave, caffeinated, and ready to be a legend, I’m looking for volunteers to work a double shift in the mini lab for RPO training on these days,” read one email viewed by The Post. “If you’re up for the challenge or just want to rack up some extra hours and bragging rights, let me know which date(s) you’d like to claim.”
The frantic outreach highlights the daunting challenge federal officials face as they work to ease the strain on U.S. air traffic controllers, whose ranks have a shortage of about 3,000 qualified professionals.
The shortage has spanned decades but was brought into sharp focus following the fatal Jan. 29 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Blackhawk helicopter in the skies above D.C. The National Transportation Safety Board continues to probe the cause of the crash, which killed 67 people, and one aspect investigators are examining is the level of staffing in Reagan National Airport’s control tower that evening.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy speaks after a midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport in January. Photo credit: Allison Robbert/For The Washington Post
Both Congress and the Trump administration have worked to close the gap. In February, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy launched a campaign to “supercharge” hiring by streamlining the application process. In May, he said he would offer bonuses and incentives to those who complete the rigorous training and are willing to work in hard-to-staff facilities.
The catch: That hiring push is overwhelming those who are being asked to train the next generation of controllers - a job largely left to a core of retired controllers, many of whom are in their 60s and 70s. (The oldest on staff is in his 80s.) Demand has never been greater for their skills, but morale at the academy is low, according to more than a half-dozen instructors who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. Even with a new labor agreement in place, many are considering returning to retirement.
“We’re wrung out,” one instructor said. “We can’t do any more 17-hour days.”
Long hours, double shifts
“It’s like this in any organization, even the military - one of the big bottlenecks is training,” said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory. “If there’s a shortage of air traffic controllers … you have greater need of people to train a new cadre of incoming air traffic controllers.”
Many instructors at the academy are contractors, so they don’t receive the same pay and benefits as FAA employees. But the union that represents them recently negotiated a new deal with their employer, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), that boosts the current salary of about $46 an hour by 3 percent annually. In addition, it raises reimbursement for expenses from $60 to $90 a day for those who come from out of town to teach at the academy.
Students work with instructors in a simulated tower environment at the FAA Academy. Photo credit: Nick Oxford/For The Washington Post
Even so, some instructors say it falls short of what’s needed to attract the quality candidates the academy needs given the high demand.
“We’re having to take anybody that will sign on the dotted line to come out here,” one instructor said.
In response, the FAA said the instructors’ vote to approve the contract indicated that they were satisfied with the deal. SAIC declined to comment on the agreement, the quality of instructors and concerns they have raised about working conditions.
Long hours pose another challenge. Classes at the academy begin at about 7 a.m. and run through midnight, split into morning and afternoon sessions. But many instructors work both shifts because of short staffing.
Students and instructors take a break at the FAA Academy. Photo Credit: Nick Oxford/For The Washington Post
A review of schedules for one track at the academy illustrates how the workload has grown. During one week in March, instructors were scheduled to work roughly 115 double shifts. By September, instructors were scheduled to work nearly 200 double shifts, an increase of about 70 percent.
In a staffing plan released last month, the agency noted that the instructor shortage creates a “practical limit on the throughput of trainees.”
FAA officials noted that working double shifts is voluntary and that many instructors view the additional work as a chance to make more money.
However, they are taking steps to manage the issue, including bringing in agency staff from elsewhere to help at the academy. The FAA also plans to hire educators with backgrounds in science and engineering to teach introductory courses, to free instructors up to teach the skills-focused classes. Retired controllers argue that those courses are best taught by individuals with experience in the system, but FAA maintains the plan would work.
That surging demand for instructors coincides with a shrinking pool of controllers eligible to retire - whom the academy typically hires for teaching stints in Oklahoma City - which has made the problem worse. Duffy has offered bonuses for those willing to defer retirement as part of his plan to keep more controllers on the job, reducing the number of potential instructors.
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All hands on deck
Student trainees who come to the Oklahoma academy spend their first few weeks in the classroom before transitioning to labs and simulators, where they will get hands-on experience such as exercises that teach them how to safely move aircraft through the various stages of their journeys.
The inside of the FAA’s academy looks like any other building on a college campus: lounge areas with vending machines stocked with assorted snacks - Cheetos, Fritos and cans of Red Bull. The hallways are lined with banks of old-school metal gray lockers, some festooned with bright decals, and during breaks, halls were filled with small groups of students comparing notes and exchanging gossip.
Chris Wilbanks, Vice President for Mission Support, in front of a tower simulator at the FAA Academy. Photo credit: Nick Oxford/For The Washington Post
The training is intense and expensive. The FAA estimates it costs $130,000 to train one academy student. And it can take as many as 40 instructors to manage a mostly inexperienced class of 15 to 18 students, according to Chris Wilbanks, vice president of mission support services at the academy. The complexity of the job often requires one-on-one instruction.
Tom Lintner, a former air traffic controller and FAA official, said teaching someone to be an air traffic controller is like teaching someone to drive or fly a plane.
“You can’t teach someone to fly a plane in a group,” he said.
During a recent tour of the academy’s “en route” lab, where students learn to direct aircraft flying at high altitudes, each sat in front of multiple computer screens, learning to scan flight data and monitor the position of aircraft while keeping an eye out for potential conflicts - all under the watchful eye of three instructors.
When not enough teachers sign up, classes continue, but students might not get as much one-on-one attention, instructors say. In those cases, managers will triage - deploying instructors to the most critical classes.
Wilbanks holds a “memory aid” that stands for “Line Up And Wait.” Photo credit: Nick Oxford/For The Washington Post
Academy officials insist, however, that safeguards are in place to ensure students are well trained by qualified teachers. They note that students must pass evaluations to ensure they have mastered the necessary skills before moving to the next phase of their training.
It generally takes three to four months to complete the academy course, and roughly 35 percent of students won’t make it through the academy, Wilbanks said. He said the agency is trying to increase the pass rate by adding additional tutoring. Successful candidates then move to FAA facilities, where they can spend years learning to manage real aircraft.
The instructors are a tight-knit group who take pride in their work. Even so, they are worried.
“You want to give the students the best training possible,” one instructor said. But when so many people work double shifts, he added, “you’re not doing it. Period. I don’t know anyone that could keep up with it. There’s no way they can provide quality instruction 17 hours a day.”
