Lewis University trains future air traffic controllers amid growing national shortage
FAA needs thousands more air traffic controllers; local program helps fill the gap
A nationwide air traffic controller shortage is raising safety concerns—see how a local university is part of the solution.
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - It was an air safety question back in the 80s and the fatal mid-air collision over the Potomac River last January has raised it again.
Do we have enough air traffic controllers? In a FOX 32 special report, Paris Schutz looks at the numbers and the key role one local university has in answering this question.
"There is a shortage. There has been a shortage for well over a decade," said Henry Krakowski. "It’s a matter of just not getting enough people into the pipeline and through the training that’s required."
Krakowski is a retired United Airlines pilot with 30 years of experience in the cockpit. He also worked for the FAA as its COO, overseeing the nation’s air traffic control system.
We took a look at the FAA's latest staffing report on air traffic controllers with him.
"All the Chicago airports, O’Hare, Midway and including the satellite airports like DuPage and Waukegan, staffing numbers look pretty good compared to other places in the country," Krakowski said.
He added there's also a plan to increase staffing at Midway and O’Hare.
According to the FAA, there is a shortage of about 3,500 controllers nationwide.
"The place that’s really hurting in the country is Florida – Jacksonville control center and Miami," Krakowski said. "It gets so bad sometimes with the shortages they actually have to shut airspace down and limit traffic sometimes… so they actually put a limit on the number of planes that can fly into Florida when they get really tight on staffing or just don’t have enough people to cover a shift."
Krakowski said that’s happened a few times just in the past few months.
Tight staffing or staffing shortages affecting flights are something air passengers may have to get used to for a while.
"It takes years to make a controller," Krakowski said. "Two-three years to what they call mint a controller, to be certified. So it’s a long process. Sometimes people wash out of it."
Lewis University in Romeoville is home to one of the FAA's 36 air traffic college training programs in the U.S., and it’s the only one in Illinois.
Michael Julius is the director of the program's air traffic control department. He’s also a retired air traffic controller himself who’s worked at Midway and several other major Midwest airports.
"It’s a fun job. Once you understand the nuances of the job, it is actually a lot of fun," Julius said. "Every day you come in, things are going to be different and it's going to be challenging, but that’s part of the job."
Having been in the hot seat himself for years, he knows firsthand what it takes to get the job done.
For students, he says their biggest challenge is being able to keep up with the pace of the class.
"Most people are thinking, ‘Oh, I can get it right the next time.’ As you know, that doesn’t work well with our job. You have to be right. It’s just a simple part of the job. You have to be right," Julius said.
Alex Bryjak is a senior air traffic control major at Lewis.
"I’m an athlete too. I play hockey," Bryjak said. "So when you are counted on to score a goal or shut down another team’s offensive push, there’s a lot of pressure but I’ve found myself to not buckle under that pressure."
He equated working in an air traffic control tower with a running sports clock, where seconds count in both places.
"It’s the same thing here. Sometimes you only have (snaps fingers) that quick to make a decision," Bryjak said.
As he finishes up his coursework, Bryjak’s waiting to hear from the FAA when he will be admitted to their air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City. Ninety-seven percent of Lewis students have been accepted into the academy in the last five years.
Bryjak passed the entrance exam last December.
"I have no idea. It could be over the summer. It could be next year. It could be two years from now. I have no idea," Bryjak said.
The FAA Academy is only a few months but is said to be grueling, with many students washing out.
"At the academy, they will teach you something in the morning. In the afternoon, they expect you to apply it correctly," Julius said.
For those who do finish, they are often assigned to work at airports in cities or states where they are not from.
Julius says that can also make keeping air traffic controllers on the job difficult.
"What they are trying to do now is establish the area they came from and send them back to that area because more than likely you’ll stay, you have some type of support system and everything else in that area and you’ll flourish," Julius said.
To help with that process, Julius says Lewis University is working on becoming an enhanced air traffic collegiate training program, where students could continue on after their four-year degree.
"We’re going to be basically just like Oklahoma City, but we would train here so they could go from here directly into the facilities," Julius said. "That will hopefully streamline a little bit and bring it forward a little bit as far as numbers."
To do that, Lewis is renovating a new space on campus and getting some new equipment as well.
No matter what changes lie ahead, Bryjak is waiting in the wings for his career to take off.
"I also used to watch a lot of shows and documentaries when I was younger on plane crashes and I was always fascinated with why these things happen," Bryjak said. "And what can I do to prevent these in the future."
Krakowski says there are a few other maneuvers the government could make to help reduce the air traffic controller shortage, like Congress approving emergency funding for the FAA so they can hire more people faster, and for the FAA to re-think its mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers, which is 57 years old.
The Source: The information in this article was obtained by the FOX 32 Chicago Investigates team.