Air Traffic Controller Training: The Role of the Universities

Abstract

In the wake of the air traffic controllers' strike of 1981, Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis called upon the nation's colleges and universities for help in rebuilding the ATC system. Five years later, the new role for the universities envisioned in that call for help has yet to be realized. In this paper, the author examines the problems the FAA has encountered in trying to rebuild the ATC system and some factors inherent in the ATC occupation that contribute to many of those difficulties. He then proposes a more direct role in air traffic controller training for the colleges and universities through an Airway Science concentration in Air Traffic Control.