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Bartow air traffic controller academy will work towards filling nationwide vacancies

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Published  January 31, 2025 6:01pm EST
Bartow
FOX 13 News

Polk's KBOW starting air traffic control academy

FOX 13’s Carla Bayron reports on Polk County working to fill the desperate need for more air traffic controllers nationwide by building a new control tower operator academy at Bartow Executive Airport. The academy will include an AI simulator room classroom and will offer students hands-on control tower operator training during its 10-month run time.

The Brief

    • The plane crash in Washington D.C. highlights the need for more air traffic controllers across the country.
    • A new control tower operator program in Polk County is working towards fixing that shortfall.
    • The program is 10 months long and provides hands-on control tower operator training.

BARTOW, Fla. - The D.C. plane crash this week highlighted the desperate need for more air traffic controllers across the country. In Polk County, a new control tower operator academy is working towards fixing that shortfall.

Big picture view:

The empty spaces located at Bartow Executive Airport will soon be transformed into an AI simulator room and classrooms.

READ: Pilot of American Airlines jet that crashed in Washington DC had Florida ties

"Each one of our classes will be five students starting out and every month we'll start a new five students, and they'll just keep rotating through and through," said Randy Clayton, a control tower operator at the airport and instructor at Traviss Technical Institute.

The program, which is 10 months long, provides hands on control tower operator training, so students can earn their operator certificate. The academy is filling the void in the training pipeline, so they can help fill the vacancies in the nation's air traffic control system.

Why you should care:

Clayton said the FAA and FCT are understaffed, leading to controllers being overworked.

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"Going over their normal eigth or 10 hours means they're putting stress on their minds and bodies, so we need to fill those slots so we're not overworking and overstressing those controllers," said Clayton. "So, we don't have mental or physical breakdowns, and we don't have incidents caused by the controller." 

He said the stigma surrounding suicide rates is still a challenge for recruitment, but there are controls nowadays that promote a healthy work-life environment. He hopes the program grows with more instructors and more students, so it can eventually go international.

"We're teaching international students, and we're able to fill positions overseas and help those people come from all over the world, so we can teach them how to do the job."

The institute hopes their first class will start in February.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered through interviews with a control tower operator and instructor at Traviss Technical Institute. 

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