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The recent government shutdown has brought attention to a significant issue plaguing the aviation industry: a shortage of air traffic controllers.
According to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the number of air traffic controllers has decreased by 6% over the past decade, even as the volume of flights has increased.
In response, initiatives are underway in the Chicago area to attract and train new air traffic controllers.
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Olive-Harvey College offers students the chance to study aviation maintenance at its Transportation Distribution and Logistics building. Recently, students and community members were encouraged to explore a career in air traffic control.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened its online application portal for aspiring air traffic controllers. On a recent Friday, FAA representatives were on hand at Olive-Harvey College to assist applicants and provide detailed information.
“The process is very straightforward,” remarked applicant Omarion Parker. “We spent about ten minutes here, received instructions, applied, and now we’re ready to go—quick and simple.”
The event was one of five FAA job fairs in the Chicago area on Friday.
“Air travel is only increasing to so therefore we need a trained workforce,” said William McClinton, FAA Great Lakes Region Director of Human Resources.
Those considered for an air traffic controller position need to be a U.S. citizen between 18-31 years old and have a bachelors degree or just one year of work experience.
“You don’t need a degree but you can have one and a mix of different things that’s going that will get your qualified beyond this point but to be honest one year works experience will get you started,” McClinton said.
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Cheryl Freeman-Smith, A dean at Olive Harvey, said this job fair is often the first exposure for applicants in the area for this type of work, or any government job.
“It will allow them to be financial stable so build up the communities they live in and that also gives vision and hope to young folks who look up to them and allow them to go into careers they hadn’t thought of,” Freeman-Smith said.
Dejaa Neely lives in Morgan Park and never considered being an air traffic controller, until now.
“No I didn’t consider air traffic controller at all, until I saw the flyer, and that we all know what’s going on in the news with the storage going with them, so I was like maybe there will be some job security,” Neely said.
Those who pass testing and background checks go to air traffic controller school for six weeks.
Once assigned to a tower, it takes three years to be fully certified. And all that time, the applicant is being paid to learn. Find more details about applying on our news app and website
Applicants should hear in the coming weeks to see if they move to the next round. But if this doesn’t work, applicants are now exposed to thousands of positions available in the government.
More information about FAA ATC hiring can be found here.
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