Originally published at: FAA Sees Early Surge In Air Traffic Controller Applications
Agency receives 6,000 applications in the first 12 hours of its latest controller hiring push.
So has FAA improved screening before hiring students?
I read that washout rate is very high.
Keeping track of aircraft and your instructions to them mentally is an essential skill.
Initial applications are screened against the qualification standards - US citizenship, not older than age 30 (at the time of application), 1 year of work experience OR 4-year degree OR combination (and registered with selective service if male). If basically qualified, referred for aptitude testing (currently, Air Traffic Skills Assessment, ATSA). Based on score, placed into a score band (best qualified, well qualified, qualified, not qualified). Tentative offers start with the Best Qualified score band (usually). It all hinges on the validity of the ATSA in predicting success in Academy, facility training, and on-the-job performance. Unfortunately, we have no direct way of knowing how valid ATSA is, as FAA has never released a formal validation study for ATSA (unlike with AT-SAT for which several studies were published publicly). The recent DOT OIG report, using their data, suggests ATSA score is very modestly correlated with initial training outcomes (but better than nothing). The “wash out” rate at the Academy and in the field is not all that exceptional or unusual when viewed historically. Only about 4% of post-strike applicants made it to FPL 1982-1995. And keep in mind NO test is perfectly reliable and valid; there will always be those that are hired and fail (and there will be folks not hired who could have succeeded). Can the testing be improved? Yes. There is a contract with the Personnel Decisions Research Institute (PDRI, Minneapolis) to develop and validate a new controller aptitude test battery. Will it be better? We won’t know unless the FAA releases the validation study.
Unfortunately the hiring process is still badly flawed. These candidates are not subject to interviews with a panel of experts (controllers) who can correctly assess the qualities of the candidate for comparability in the job. Yes there are REAL traits to easily see if someone can do the job and sadly it has nothing to do with intelligence. The ability to speak English is a major one.