FAA reinstates flight deck training programme for air traffic controllers

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it is bringing back its Flight Deck Training programme, which lets air traffic controllers ride on the flight deck and observe cockpit operations on commercial, general aviation and military flights. The programme had been suspended since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is meant to give controllers firsthand exposure to pilot workload, cockpit procedures and how ground instructions affect flight crews.

A controller applies electronically for specific flights and states a training goal. Each controller may take part in two commercial or general aviation flights and one military flight per year. Approvals are handled internally and depend on staffing and operational requirements. Participants must file reports on what they observed.

Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said nothing matches being in the cockpit. The programme, he said, shows participants the difficulties pilots face and how their choices and actions connect with air traffic control, which improves their grasp of the National Airspace System.

The FAA said initial trials have already improved controllers' understanding of how particular clearances affect flight crews, especially complicated clearances and last-minute changes to the landing runway. The decision to restore the programme follows bipartisan legislation introduced in September that sought to create cockpit observation opportunities for controllers. The agency worked with NATCA on the restart and said every major US airline has signed up. Controllers face several rounds of screening before they are allowed on board. The FAA expects the programme to be running formally after Thanksgiving.