The Federal Aviation Administration has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers and the recent government shutdown has only exacerbated the crisis. Controllers were forced to work without pay and hundreds of flights were canceled out of safety concerns.
Here in New Hampshire, a new enhanced air traffic control program at Nashua Community College aims to help make up the national staffing shortage of about 3,000 controllers. It’s a two-year program, with a focus on simulation training.
And interest has been high.
“Initially we kind of thought, geez, the hardest part of this is going to be getting the word out there about becoming a controller to high school students,” said program director Jeff Carpentier. “And now we're finding that the hardest part is really getting enough equipment in the building to be able to get more students into the class.”
Until recently, controllers would have to attend the FAA’s official training academy in Oklahoma City. Now, nine programs across the country, including the one in Nashua, allow graduates to bypass the training academy and directly enter the FAA upon completion.
NHPR’s All Things Considered host Julia Furukawa sat down with Carpentier to learn more about these programs, which he says allow students more time to train.
Transcript
When you go to Oklahoma City, it is a three-month program, and it's all of the same information that we have here at the school. So the FAA is essentially giving us their curriculum. Their success rate is 40% to 60%. When you come to a school like [Nashua Community College], where you're able to have a lot more time to go through the curriculum, and if you're having any sort of deficiency in an area or trouble understanding something in particular, we can take that time and sit with you and really kind of break it down so you have the knowledge and you've got a good grasp on it. So we look at it as if [our program is] going to be more successful, even though it's a little bit longer lead time into getting into a career.
This program is really popular, it sounds like. What's the main reason that you hear from students about why they decided to join and why they want to pursue this career?
They haven't really been overly voluntary of that information, I would say. But most of them, I think, just because of the news, right? That there's this guarantee, almost. There's a shortage of air traffic controllers. So they know if they come into the program and they get through it, that there's a job waiting for them there. And it's a very good paying job and something that, you know, not too many people think of.
Students are starting their first year in the air traffic controller program. This is amid a federal government shutdown, and they're probably hearing in the news that air traffic controllers are not getting paid for their work right now. That's not a super promising thing to hear as a young person going into that field. Has that changed how students are feeling? What's the temperature with them right now?
They know what's happening. We talk about it in class. But I've told them right off the bat that this is what you need to do in order to prepare yourself. These things can happen from time to time. And just, you get your first paycheck, put $20 aside or something like that until you get about a month's worth of pay and just leave it in the savings account. So if something like this does come up, you have that reserve. It's working for the federal government, you just never really know what's going to happen and when those things are going to happen. But it hasn't soured them at all. They stay focused on the program here, and they get super excited about just working the simulator and those types of things.
So before this, you worked as an air traffic controller for 25 years, including at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport — real close by. When people hear about these big national staffing shortages of air traffic controllers, what should they know about the reality of the situation?
Well, every facility is a little bit different. What has been reported about the staffing shortages is pretty accurate. There is some overtime. There are six-day work weeks out there. But really for the most part, we're going to staff the facility as best as we can to keep everybody safe. And that would be the biggest piece that everybody should really know. We're not going to let it get out of hand to the point where it would be unsafe to fly. They're going to slow everything down and the delays would just get longer.
