PROFESSOR OF ROOM 33-303 

AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS 77 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE 

DIRECTOR CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 

 INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION (617) 253-2271 FAX (617) 253-4196 

 E-MAIL: rjhans@mit.edu 

November 8, 2005 

The Honorable Marion C. Blakey 

Administrator 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, SW 

Washington, DC 20591 

Dear Ms. Blakey: 

At your request during the September 2004 the Research, Engineering and 

Development Advisory Committee (REDAC) meeting, the Subcommittee on Human 

Factors over the past year, has reviewed the FAA plans and activities related to the 

skills training and needs of the next generation controller workforce in anticipation of 

the upcoming retirement replacement needs. 

The committee commends the development of the Plan for the Future: The FAA’s 10-Year 

Strategy for the Air Traffic Control Workforce but is concerned about implementation. The 

committee has significant concerns with the speed and efficiency of current training 

practice to meet the system wide and facility specific demands over the next 5 years. 

Concern is based on the 2-5 year time to train to CPC and the cost/time for position 

transfer-training to facility specific operations. A large portion of the training time is 

on-the-job training. This process is of uncertain efficiency and requires significant 

controller resources. 

 

The committee sees an opportunity to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the 

recruitment, selection and training process (at all stages: Collegiate Training Initiative, 

Academy, and on the job training). Specific observations and recommendations 

include: 

 

Leadership 

Observation: Currently there are many activities associated with implementing 

A Plan for the Future: The FAA’s 10-Year Strategy for the Air Traffic Control Workforce, but 

there is no focal point for leading the various efforts from an integrated human-systems 

perspective. 

Recommendation: The FAA should immediately designate an individual to be 

responsible and accountable for all the interdependent activities associated with the 

implementation of the “Plan for the Future.” That individual should have executive 
RE: Blakey PAGE 2 OF 4 

and budgetary authority for implementing the plan. This authority should include all 

efforts regarding recruiting, selection, staffing, and training. It should also include 

coordinating the CTI schools, the Academy, OJT for terminal and en route. The 

individual should be accountable for evaluating workforce initiatives, for both the 

present requirement and for future NAS operational developments. 

Training Process Enhancements 

Observation: There are a number of initiatives proposed in the “Plan for the Future” 

focused on achieving gains in efficiencies and effectiveness in the training process with 

associated reductions in training time and costs. Much less emphasis has been placed 

on developing the right training program. 

Recommendations: The FAA should immediately convene a workgroup and 

independent lean process review team to, in the near term, assure the response needed 

to meet immediate needs and, in the far term, develop the training program for the 

future. Conduct a complete review of the current academy training program and 

facility training programs, and the age 56 exceptional controller process. Consider new 

training approaches, eg concurrent Radar and Associate Training. Review options on 

centralized versus decentralized training. 

Identify requirements and venues for training of advanced controller tools. 

Support assessments regarding the use of simulation throughout the training process. 

Training must be a requirements-driven and performance-based process. Training 

must focus on determined knowledge, skills and abilities to reach CPC. The FAA 

should accelerate current efforts in staffing standards model and functional 

requirements development 

ATCS Performance Measures & Training Effectiveness 

Observation: The assessment of Academy training and OJT effectiveness are hindered 

by a lack of metrics to ensure performance competencies, prioritize efforts to address 

training and remediation, and track controller development. Training seems largely 

time-based as opposed to performance and results based. 

Recommendation: The FAA should immediately and consistently develop and 

implement performance-based metrics and standards for CTI, Academy, facility 

airspace, and OJT training entry/exit criteria to assess controller competencies. The 

FAA should seek to standardize, to the extent possible, scenario characteristics for 

training and exploit advanced simulation technology to converge on a common set of 

controller skills. The FAA should combine the use of objective measures of skill with 

behaviorally anchored rating scales to ensure effective use of training exit criteria. The 

FAA should examine best practice and lessons learned in training for air transport 

operations and investigate their application to controller performance. 

 
RE: Blakey PAGE 3 OF 4 

Use of Simulation 

Observation: Simulation technology is not properly exploited in ATCS training. The 

subcommittee observes an over-reliance on labor intensive full fidelity simulation to 

mimic the “real world” as opposed to simulation fidelity selected to match training 

value. Also there is no basis for what should be trained at varying levels of simulator 

fidelity and an ineffective use of CBT and part-task simulation, which could increase 

training effectiveness at a lower cost 

Recommendation: 

In the next six months develop a set of technology requirements to support 

performance-based training objectives, identify and map skills to training technologies 

(CBT, part-task simulators, full fidelity simulation) to training objectives. It should also, 

address scenario and airspace specific development issues, evaluate MITRE (R-SAT) 

simulation training approach (and others) to be systematically matched with training 

outcomes for effective training delivery and investigate the use of simulators to provide 

early practice and testing. 

Standardization of Procedures 

Observation: A large portion of training at the facility is dedicated to learning local 

procedures and memorizing detail which is an artifact of prior technology limits. This is 

compounded by differences in local practices for use of common ATCS tools such as 

URET. 

Recommendation: Immediately determine how to improve, staffing flexibility, OJT and 

Academy effectiveness through: Identification of general techniques and consolidation 

that standardizes procedures and training across facilities such as control techniques for 

certain operational flows. Facilities at risk of personnel shortfall should be targeted for 

early implementation. Focus on procedure simplification and support for controller 

rapid indoctrination in local techniques including enhanced processes for reducing 

training effort and off-loading sector-specific requirements to perceptual and decision 

support tool. In this process the agency should anticipate the impact of future 

initiatives in procedure and equipment to enhance procedural standardization. In the 

next year, determine how standardized procedures could be improved for use of ATCS 

tools 

CTI - Academy Alignment 

Observation: Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) programs are seen as one way of 

expanding the FAA training capability. In order to exploit that possible expansion, the 

CTI programs need to be better aligned with Academy and FAA requirements. 

Recommendation: Immediately, give the CTI schools clear guidance to allow their 

graduates advance in Academy training. Immediately establish minimum 

requirements for CTI graduates to enter Academy training as well as requirements for 
RE: Blakey PAGE 4 OF 4 

advanced Academy placement. Streamline the transition between CTI and Academy 

and support currency training during transition 

Develop a program of feedback to the CTI schools using Academy statistics to improve 

CTI curricula including use of training technologies. 

Use of Team Training 

Observation: Use of team training is not addressed in A Plan for the Future: The FAA’s 

10-Year Strategy for the Air Traffic Control Workforce. Part of this strategy should be 

ensuring safety management and a reporting culture by indoctrinating controllers early 

on the value of teamwork. 

Recommendation: In the next six months, implement an approach for leveraging the 

use of team training, whether in the form of team based collaborative learning, Air 

Traffic Teamwork Enhancement (ATTE), Crew Resource Management (CRM), or some 

other approach. Principles should be introduced at the Academy, and practiced in OJT. 

Please contact myself or Dr. Kevin Corker if you would like to discuss these 

observations and recommendations or if the REDAC can be of further assistance. 

Sincerely, 

R. John Hansman 

Co-Chair, FAA Research, Engineering and Development Advisory Committee 

Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics 

Director, MIT International Center for Air Transportation