Opportunities to Improve FAA'S Process for Placing and Training Air Traffic Controllers in Light of Pending Retirements

摘要

This report presents the results of our audit of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic controller placement and training process. The objectives of our audit were to: (1) determine if FAA has identified future hiring requirements for controllers and if FAA's existing sources for filling these vacancies will be sufficient to meet projected requirements; (2) determine if FAAs on-the-job training process for controllers is effective at developing fully certified controllers in a timely and cost-effective manner; and (3) evaluate FAA's management of and controls over the Air Traffic Instructional Services contract. Our audit focused on the training process for air traffic controllers from the point of hiring through the certification process at the facility level. The information analyzed was from fiscal years (FYs) 2002 and 2003.