GRAND FORKS – Admissions at the University of North Dakota’s air traffic management program are set to climb substantially next year amid calls from the legislative and executive branches for more air traffic controllers.
The Federal Aviation Administration will still have to wait four years for those students to graduate into the workforce, said Craig Carlson, associate professor of aviation, but enrollment figures for the air traffic management program have been climbing steadily for the past several years.
“We’re getting close to doubling the numbers of people that are looking at air traffic control as a degree here in Grand Forks,” Carlson said. “So once those people graduate, I think the full impact is going to be felt.”
Some 108 students have been admitted to the air traffic management program for fall 2025 as of Thursday, Carlson shared, compared to 72 in 2024. That’s up from just 33 students in 2019.
The FAA is about 3,500 controllers short of targeted staffing levels, with current employees working six-day shifts and mandatory overtime to make up the difference.
On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of senators, including U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, introduced a bill to address staffing shortages among federal air traffic controllers.
The bill authorizes some $20 million per year toward colleges and universities participating in the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative, which allows air traffic graduates at a handful of schools to bypass mandatory training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City and enter directly into the workforce.
UND is one of four schools currently qualified for the enhanced training program.
“That’s good for UND, because they’re going to be able to attract and train more air traffic controllers,” said Hoeven, a vocal proponent of the enhanced program. “But that’s exactly what you need nationally for more air traffic controllers.”
The consequences of the air traffic controller shortfall became apparent on Jan. 29, when an American Airlines jet descending into Washington’s Reagan National Airport collided in mid-air with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft and ending a nearly 16-year lull in fatal commercial accidents.
A preliminary FAA report indicated “not normal” staffing levels at the airport’s tower the night of the crash.
The $20 million authorized by the bill will go toward curriculum, facilities improvements and hiring faculty at current and future enhanced air traffic programs.
It also includes funding for tower simulation systems at FAA towers for on-the-job training as well as provisions to update the FAA Academy’s curriculum and address mental health concerns for air traffic controllers.
Hoeven says funding should become available for the 2026 federal fiscal year, provided the bill passes into law and the funding makes it through the appropriations process.
Carlson said the biggest boon for UND is it codifies the enhanced program into federal law, “so it can’t just be pulled out from under us with some budget cut.”
“That’s probably the biggest thing, because we put a lot of time, effort and money into it, and I would hate to see that go (away),” Carlson said.
He also highlighted a provision that waives an annuity penalty on air traffic controllers who choose to work as instructors, which he said will help fill staffing needs.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday said the Trump administration would take steps to boost air traffic controller hiring including extending its hiring window, increasing starting salaries for FAA Academy graduates, and shortening the hiring process.
Last week, though, the FAA fired “less than 400” probationary employees from its workforce of 45,000, though Duffy later claimed no air traffic controllers or “critical safety personnel” were let go.
Air traffic controllers were sent buyout offers, Reuters reported, but were later told by the administration they were not eligible for the buyouts.
Carlson noted firing probationary air traffic controllers, who have worked for the agency for less than a year, would be tantamount to “cutting out their future” for the FAA amid staff shortages.
Hoeven said Duffy’s statements were the extent of his knowledge of the FAA cuts. He also said he’d spoken to Elon Musk, whose U.S. DOGE Service has led much of the federal layoffs, and had heard from the billionaire the agency had no plans to target air traffic controllers.
The Grand Forks Herald also asked Hoeven about President Donald Trump’s statements last month blaming diversity, equity and inclusion programs for the D.C. crash. Hoeven said he is waiting to see what the National Transportation Safety Board found in its ongoing investigation of the crash.
“I really don’t know if DEI had anything to do with it, but I tell you what, the NTSB is doing a full evaluation of the thing,” Hoeven said. “So let’s see what NTSB has to say about it.”