The FAA has approved the Prescott, Arizona campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to join the agency’s Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI). Under the agreement announced on Monday, graduates of ERAU’s air traffic management program in Prescott can be fast-tracked into ATC towers for on-the-job training.
Enhanced AT-CTI is designed to help the FAA ramp up controller hiring by expanding the training capacity, building on the agency’s program in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Universities participating in the Enhanced AT-CTI program must offer the equivalent curriculum and advanced training technology as found in Oklahoma City.
“We’re taking aggressive action at the FAA to recruit the best and brightest into our controller workforce by making the training process more efficient than ever,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in announcing the addition of ERAU in Prescott. “These jobs are critical to keeping our skies safe, and with the expansion of our training capabilities through Enhanced AT-CTI schools, we are bolstering our aviation workforce and ushering in a higher volume of controllers beyond our previous capabilities.”
The Prescott campus joins ERAU’s program in Daytona Beach, Florida, in participating in the Enhanced AT-CTI program. The Daytona Beach campus was among the first to be approved to join, and its first class of students graduated from the Enhanced AT-CTI program last spring.
“Having both air traffic management programs at Embry‑Riddle’s Daytona Beach and Prescott campuses approved for this critical FAA initiative to strengthen the air traffic controller pipeline demonstrates the high level of training and education Embry‑Riddle provides,” said ERAU president Barry Butler.
FAA approval followed an extensive audit of both the curriculum and technology. ERAU recently upgraded its air traffic control laboratory with simulators that replicate tower operations and can run more than a dozen FAA-aligned scenarios. The high-definition, 180-degree tower simulators enable students to experience and respond to weather challenges, traffic surges, and emergency protocols.
“By training on the same scenarios used at the FAA Academy, students come out of our program ready to step into real-world operations,” said Kyle Wilkerson, assistant professor and program coordinator for the ERAU air traffic management program.