AIN Staff

The FAA’s decision this year to drop its traditional hiring preference for students of approved <a href="https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/operations/at_cti/schools/">ATC training schools</a> has drawn criticism from some members of Congress, who claim the new process–intended to promote diversity–actually eliminates hundreds of qualified candidates.

 


The new <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5675/text">Safe Towers Act</a>, H.R. 5675, introduced by Reps. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and recently referred to committee for further action, would restore the original hiring preference for pre-trained candidates. “I believe the new procedures jeopardize airline safety and risk putting lesser qualified candidates into our towers,” said Hultgren in a press release. “Many qualified applicants have been rejected from the process by an illogical personality test that asked such irrelevant questions as whether you played a high school sport. Just because someone was a star athlete in high school doesn’t mean they have the skills or training for us to trust them in our towers.”

 


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Congress To Pursue Safe Towers Act

Representatives upset at what they believe were arbitrary changes to FAA hiring practices

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