Northern Colorado college students aim to alleviate FAA air traffic control shortage

The Federal Aviation Administration is in the process of trying to hire more air traffic control operators amid a nationwide shortage. The FAA's ongoing shortage was brought to light even more so following a deadly plane crash on a runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York Sunday night. It has left some to speculate the crash might have been possible linked to a short staff in a control tower.

However, the Trump administration has been working to curb the shortage. In that effort, Aims Community College in Northern Colorado has become the eleventh college in the country approved to help train and graduate air traffic controllers.

"(ATC) is truly the gears that make the system work," said Aiden Rowe, a student at Aims in Windsor. "I kind of fell in love with it."

Rowe is among the students in Weld County who are preparing to enter the workforce as ATC employees. The students learn from former controllers who are now professors at the two-year college.

The college has built out a simulation classroom setup, where students are trained on a simulated air traffic control tower that can be manipulated by their educators.

"It is extremely realistic," Rowe said.

For many year the only way to become an ATC certified employee was to go through the FAA academy in Oklahoma. However, that caused a logjam of people who wanted to be certified, but there were not enough spots in the academy.

By certifying a college like Aims, the Trump administration is working to expedite the education and employment of the students in the field.

"It allows our students to go directly from college to an air traffic control facility, which speeds up the hiring process, and it provides more avenues to make air traffic controllers," said Patti Phillips, professor at Aims. "There is a pretty significant shortage of air traffic controllers. The goal is to get potential air traffic controllers to their facilities quicker."

For Rowe, pursuing a career in ATC allows him to enjoy involvement in aviation without having to leave the ground.

"I was always around or near airports, but I knew I never wanted to fly the plane," Rowe said.

Rowe is on a trajectory to be hired by the FAA within just two years of starting his studies. Phillips said the education the students receive at Aims is the same quality as that of the academy, if not even better due to more individualized teaching.

"Whether a student goes to an institution here like aims community college, or they go down to the academy, they get the same training," Phillips said.

"There is such a need in our world right now," Rowe said.

If everything goes to plan, Rowe should be entering the workforce as a professional by summer of this year.

"It is extremely exciting," Rowe said. "I can't wait for it to happen. This is something I am super passionate about."

Phillips hopes the change will allow more students to take interest in a career in air traffic control, ultimately opening the field up to more people from more backgrounds.

"Maybe someone who has never considered air traffic control could say, 'Wow, maybe that is something I can do," Phillips said.