The Federal Aviation Administration says that graduates of two college air traffic control programs can now bypass the agency’s backlogged training academy.
The new announcement is the FAA’s latest move to tackle air traffic controller shortages that have plagued the air travel system, triggering flight delays and a burned-out controller corps. Many controllers have been working six-day weeks of mandatory overtime, and controller fatigue has been cited as a factor in a series of runway incursions that have alarmed aviation officials.
“The FAA is working to hire and train more air traffic controllers, in order to reverse the decades-long decline in our workforce and ensure the safety of the flying public,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement…