Half of air traffic controller job offers go to people with no aviation experience

Chicago Tribune ^ | July 30, 2014 | Jon Hilkevitch

[george76]

More than half of the latest batch of air-traffic controller job offers nationwide went to people with no aviation experience as part of a program designed to expand hiring among the general public, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday.

About 22,500 people without an aviation background initially applied. Of those, 837 were offered jobs. The remainder of the roughly 1,600 new controller slots went to more traditional applicants, including military veterans with aviation experience and accredited aviation school graduates.

The hiring breakdown marks a major shift in FAA recruitment strategy, which is now geared toward trying to keep ahead of a wave of controller retirements while also attracting more minorities and women to the nation’s largely white and male controller work force in airport towers and radar facilities, officials have said.

...

For almost the last 25 years, until the off-the-street hiring process was implemented in February, the FAA recruited controllers heavily from among military veterans possessing aviation experience and from the 36 FAA-approved college aviation programs across the U.S., the Tribune reported this spring.

[Myrddin]

I once suggested going for a spin. Not well received by my flight instructor. :-) He did put me through some extra exercises later.

[Frank_2001]

“Yo, mofo! Dig dat DC-10 front of y’all, bitch done near slapped y’all upside da head!!! “ /s;)