I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5292 

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to hiring of certain air 

traffic control specialists, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2016 

Mr. CURBELO of Florida (for himself and Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 

New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to hiring 

of certain air traffic control specialists, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air Traffic Controller 

5 Hiring Improvement Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HIRING OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44506 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5292 IH

1 ‘‘(f) HIRING OF CERTAIN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

2 SPECIALISTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) ENSURING SELECTION OF MOST

5 QUALIFIED APPLICANTS.—In appointing indi6 viduals to the position of air traffic controllers, 

7 the Administrator shall give preferential consid8 eration to qualified individuals maintaining 52 

9 consecutive weeks of air traffic control experi10 ence involving the active separation of air traf11 fic after receipt of an air traffic certification or 

12 air traffic control facility rating within 5 years 

13 of application while serving at— 

14 ‘‘(i) a Federal Aviation Administra15 tion air traffic control facility; 

16 ‘‘(ii) a civilian or military air traffic 

17 control facility of the Department of De18 fense; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) a tower operating under con20 tract with the Federal Aviation Adminis21 tration under section 47124. 

22 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL AP23 PLICANTS.—The Administrator shall consider 

24 additional applicants for the position of air traf25 fic controller by referring an approximately 


emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5292 IH

1 equal number of employees for appointment 

2 among 2 applicant pools. The number of em3 ployees referred for consideration from each 

4 group shall not differ by more than 10 percent. 

5 ‘‘(i) POOL ONE.—Pool one shall con6 sist of applicants who— 

7 ‘‘(I) have successfully completed 

8 air traffic controller training and 

9 graduated from an institution partici10 pating in the Collegiate Training Ini11 tiative program maintained under 

12 subsection (c)(1) who have received 

13 from the institution— 

14 ‘‘(aa) an appropriate rec15 ommendation; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) an endorsement certi17 fying that the applicant would 

18 have met the requirements in ef19 fect as of December 31, 2013, 

20 for an appropriate recommenda21 tion; 

22 ‘‘(II) are eligible for a veterans 

23 recruitment appointment pursuant to 

24 section 4214 of title 38 and provide a 

25 Certificate of Release or Discharge 


emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5292 IH

1 from Active Duty within 120 days of 

2 the announcement closing; 

3 ‘‘(III) are eligible veterans under 

4 section 4211 of title 38 maintaining 

5 aviation experience obtained in the 

6 course of the individual’s military ex7 perience; or 

8 ‘‘(IV) are preference eligible vet9 erans pursuant to section 2108 of title 

10 5. 

11 ‘‘(ii) POOL TWO.—Pool two shall con12 sist of applicants who apply under a va13 cancy announcement recruiting from all 

14 United States citizens. 

15 ‘‘(2) USE OF BIOGRAPHICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) BIOGRAPHICAL ASSESSMENTS.—The 

17 Administration may not use any biographical 

18 assessment when hiring under subparagraph 

19 (A) or subparagraph (B)(i) of paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(B) RECONSIDERATION OF APPLICANTS

21 DISQUALIFIED ON THE BASIS OF BIOGRAPHICAL

22 ASSESSMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an individual 

24 described in subparagraph (A) or subpara25 graph (B)(i) of paragraph (1) who applied 


emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5292 IH

1 for the position of air traffic controller 

2 with the Administration in response to Va3 cancy Announcement FAA–AMC–14– 

4 ALLSRCE–33537 (issued on February 10, 

5 2014) and was disqualified from the posi6 tion as the result of a biographical assess7 ment, the Administrator shall provide the 

8 applicant an opportunity to reapply as 

9 soon as practicable for the position under 

10 the revised hiring practices. 

11 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER OF AGE RESTRICTION.— 

12 The Administrator shall waive any max13 imum age restriction for the position of air 

14 traffic controller with the Administration 

15 that would otherwise disqualify an indi16 vidual from the position if the individual— 

17 ‘‘(I) is reapplying for the position 

18 pursuant to clause (i) on or before 

19 December 31, 2017; and 

20 ‘‘(II) met the maximum age re21 quirement on the date of the individ22 ual’s previous application for the posi23 tion during the interim hiring process. 

24 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM ENTRY AGE FOR EXPERIENCED

25 CONTROLLERS.—Notwithstanding section 3307 of 


emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5292 IH

1 title 5, the maximum limit of age for an original ap2 pointment to a position as an air traffic controller 

3 shall be 35 years of age for those maintaining 52 

4 weeks of air traffic control experience involving the 

5 active separation of air traffic after receipt of an air 

6 traffic certification or air traffic control facility rat7 ing in a civilian or military air traffic control facil8 ity.’’. 

9 (b) NOTIFICATION OF VACANCIES.—The Adminis10 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall con11 sider directly notifying secondary schools and institutes of 

12 higher learning, including Historically Black Colleges and 

13 Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Minority Insti14 tutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities, of the va15 cancy announcement under section 44506(f)(1)(B)(ii) of 

16 title 49, United States Code. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS