Exploring the Best Practices of Virtual Training Delivery for the Prospective Air Traffic Controllers

The recent steady growth in the volume of air traffic in the National Airspace System has increased the public’s need for continued safe and efficient air traffic control services. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to hire more air traffic controllers (ATCs) over the next few years. This initiative will keep up with increased traffic volume and replace the large number of ATCs expected to retire in the next ten years. Along with increased hiring, the FAA will also need to provide up-to-date and cost-effective training that will enable new hires to maintain dynamic traffic flow during ongoing increases in traffic volume. Training on complex procedures, rules, and traffic patterns is a key component in the education of the perspective ATCs at the FAA Academy. Since the perspective ATCs are from a generation accustomed to learning via media-rich, computer-based interfaces to interact with instructors and peers, using online and computer-based training modalities is essential to achieving transfer of training into performance on the job. This study looked at the perceptions of students and instructors on virtual training delivery methods, and how they could be utilized to improve the current training techniques at FAA academy and Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) Schools. To determine student’s perception of virtual training delivery, face-to-face interviews and online surveys were conducted. These results will help guide the development of new training courses to promote technology enriched self-learning environment and easy assessment of student performance to improve the current training outcomes at FAA Academy and CTI schools