Enhanced AT-CTI Program Expands Westward

Embry-Riddle’s Arizona campus joins the program, elevating air traffic control training offerings.

Parris Clarke

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 02:00 PM ET

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Edited By: Travis Tingle

Embry-Riddle campus [Credit: WikiCommons]

Key Takeaways:

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Prescott campus is now the ninth school, and the first in the western U.S., to join the FAA's Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program.
This enhanced program provides students with FAA Academy-level curriculum, allowing successful graduates to bypass the Academy and report directly to an air traffic control facility for training.
The initiative is part of the FAA's aggressive efforts to combat major national air traffic control staffing shortages by making the training process more efficient and increasing the volume of new controllers.

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The FAA announced Monday that it had reached an agreement with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott, Arizona, campus to become the ninth school to adopt the Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program.

In November, Embry-Riddle’s main campus in Daytona Beach, Florida, became one of the first institutions to offer the new program.

The Enhanced AT-CTI program was officially launched in 2024 and gives select institutions that sign on with the program the ability to offer students the same curriculum and training provided at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. After graduation from the program and satisfactory completion of the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (AT-SA) exam and performance verifications, graduates can bypass the FAA Academy altogether and report directly to an agency facility to begin training.

This differs from the Standard AT-CTI program, where graduates are able to forgo the introductory air traffic basics course, as well as the first five weeks of initial qualification training, but are still required to attend the FAA Academy for further instruction upon graduation.

In addition to being the newest inclusion to the Enhanced AT-CTI program, Embry-Riddle’s Prescott location is the first school in the western U.S. to offer such a program. That opens up the opportunity to a new cohort of potential students that previously wouldn’t have been able to consider an ATC training program due to logistical barriers.

The move is the latest effort from the FAA to stimulate hiring opportunities for careers in air traffic control. Major staffing shortages among ATC have been thrust into the spotlight this year after a string of high-profile incidents called air traffic management into question.

“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.” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “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.”

For Embry-Riddle, this marks the second announcement this year regarding the Enhanced AT-CTI program. In August, the university launched a two-year associate degree pathway under the enhanced initiative at its Daytona Beach campus that focuses exclusively on tower operations.

“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 Embry-Riddle president P. Barry Butler. “We are proud to see our highly skilled, professional graduates immediately join the controller ranks for training to keep air traffic moving safely and efficiently.”