II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 697
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for air traffic control
training improvements, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY24, 2025
Mr. H
OEVEN(for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for air
traffic control training improvements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air Traffic Control 4
Workforce Development Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
(1) A
DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-8
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 9
Aviation Administration. 10
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(2) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Fed-1
eral Aviation Administration. 2
SEC. 3. COLLEGIATE TRAINING INITIATIVE PROGRAM IM-3
PROVEMENTS. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 44506(c) of title 49, 5
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 6
‘‘(c) C
OLLEGIATETRAININGINITIATIVE.— 7
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 8
Federal Aviation Administration shall maintain the 9
Collegiate Training Initiative program (including the 10
Enhanced-Collegiate Training Initiative program) by 11
making new agreements and continuing existing 12
agreements with institutions of higher education (as 13
defined by the Administrator) under which the insti-14
tutions prepare students for the position of air traf-15
fic controller with the Department of Transportation 16
(as defined in section 2109 of title 5). The Adminis-17
trator may establish standards for the entry of insti-18
tutions into the program and for their continued 19
participation. 20
‘‘(2) A
PPOINTMENT OF PROGRAM GRAD -21
UATES.—The Administrator of the Federal Aviation 22
Administration may appoint an individual who has 23
successfully completed a course of training in a pro-24
gram described in paragraph (1) to the position of 25
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air traffic controller noncompetitively in the excepted 1
service (as defined in section 2103 of title 5). An in-2
dividual appointed under this paragraph serves at 3
the pleasure of the Administrator, subject to section 4
7511 of title 5. However, an appointment under this 5
paragraph may be converted from one in the ex-6
cepted service to a career conditional or career ap-7
pointment in the competitive civil service (as defined 8
in section 2102 of title 5) when the individual 9
achieves full performance level air traffic controller 10
status, as determined by the Administrator. 11
‘‘(3) E
NHANCED-CTI GRANT PROGRAM.— 12
‘‘(A) E
STABLISHMENT.—The Adminis-13
trator of the Federal Aviation Administration 14
shall establish and carry out a grant program 15
to award grants to institutions of higher edu-16
cation (as defined by the Administrator) that 17
have been approved to, or are seeking to (as de-18
termined appropriate by the Administrator), 19
participate in the Enhanced-Collegiate Training 20
Initiative program described in paragraph (1). 21
‘‘(B) G
RANTS.— 22
‘‘(i) I
N GENERAL.—For the purpose 23
of carrying out the grant program estab-24
lished under subparagraph (A), the Sec-25
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retary shall make grants to institutions of 1
higher education. 2
‘‘(ii) U
SE OF FUNDS.—An institution 3
of higher education shall use a grant 4
awarded under this paragraph for the fol-5
lowing purposes: 6
‘‘(I) To develop curriculum for 7
the Enhanced-Collegiate Training Ini-8
tiative program required under para-9
graph (1). 10
‘‘(II) To provide faculty, simula-11
tors, and other necessary classroom 12
supplies (including medical certificates 13
and FAA-required tests) to the En-14
hanced-Collegiate Training Initiative 15
program. 16
‘‘(III) For any other purpose de-17
termined appropriate by the Adminis-18
trator of the Federal Aviation Admin-19
istration. 20
‘‘(iii) E
LIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to 21
receive a grant under this paragraph, an 22
institution of higher education shall submit 23
an application to the Administrator of the 24
Federal Aviation Administration at such 25
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time, in such form, and containing such in-1
formation as the Administrator may re-2
quire. 3
‘‘(iv) F
UNDING.—There is authorized 4
to be appropriated $20,000,000 for each of 5
fiscal years 2026 through 2031 to carry 6
out this paragraph.’’. 7
(b) E
NHANCED-COLLEGIATETRAININGINITIATIVE 8
P
ROGRAMFACULTYANNUITYSUPPLEMENT.—Section 9
8421a(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 10
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and in-11
serting a semicolon; 12
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 13
the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 14
(3) by adding at the end the following new 15
paragraph: 16
‘‘(3) air traffic control instructor, or supervisor 17
thereof, at an institution of higher education partici-18
pating in the Enhanced-Collegiate Training Initia-19
tive program described in section 44506(c) of title 20
49.’’. 21
(c) FAA A
CADEMY ANDCOLLEGIATETRAININGINI-22
TIATIVEPROGRAMCURRICULUMAVIATIONRULEMAKING 23
C
OMMITTEE.— 24
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall con-1
vene an aviation rulemaking committee to— 2
(A) review— 3
(i) the curricula of the air traffic tech-4
nical training academy of the FAA, the 5
Collegiate Training Initiative program, and 6
the Enhanced-Collegiate Training Initiative 7
program; and 8
(ii) the Air Traffic Skills Assessment 9
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘ATSA’’) 10
exam; 11
(B) develop findings and recommendations 12
regarding the improvement and modernization 13
of such curricula and the ATSA exam; and 14
(C) provide to the Administrator a report 15
on such findings and recommendations and for 16
other related purposes as determined by the Ad-17
ministrator. 18
(2) C
OMPOSITION.—The aviation rulemaking 19
committee established under paragraph (1) shall 20
consist of members appointed by the Administrator, 21
including representatives of— 22
(A) institutions of higher education that 23
are accredited by the Aviation Accreditation 24
Board International; 25
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(B) aviation industry organizations; 1
(C) FAA subject matter experts; 2
(D) the exclusive bargaining representative 3
of the air traffic controllers certified under sec-4
tion 7111 of title 5, United States Code; and 5
(E) other aviation safety experts deter-6
mined appropriate by the Administrator. 7
(3) C
ONSIDERATIONS.—The aviation rule-8
making committee established under paragraph (1) 9
shall consider the following: 10
(A) The advancements in education tech-11
nology, including digital resources that may be 12
incorporated into a modern curriculum. 13
(B) The appropriate balance between the 14
use of theoretical knowledge and practical appli-15
cation. 16
(C) A review of instructional techniques to 17
improve the effectiveness of learning outcomes. 18
(D) The real-world applicability of air traf-19
fic operations procedures included in the cur-20
riculum. 21
(E) Student success rates, including out-22
comes of air traffic controller trainees when 23
placed at facilities for on-the-job training. 24
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(F) Methods for reducing the subjectivity 1
of instructional techniques. 2
(G) Methods for improving the ATSA 3
exam to support controller facility placement 4
determinations. 5
(H) Student success rates correlated to the 6
Collegiate Training Initiative program and the 7
Enhanced-Collegiate Training Initiative pro-8
gram described in section 44506(c) of title 49, 9
United States Code. 10
(I) Other considerations as determined ap-11
propriate by the Administrator. 12
(4) D
UTIES.—The Administrator shall— 13
(A) not later than 1 year after the date of 14
enactment of this section, submit to Congress a 15
copy of the aviation rulemaking committee re-16
port provided to the Administrator under para-17
graph (1)(C); and 18
(B) not later than 180 days after the date 19
of submission of the report under subparagraph 20
(A), in consultation with other agencies as de-21
termined appropriate by the Administrator— 22
(i) initiate a rulemaking activity or 23
make such policy and guidance updates 24
necessary to address any consensus rec-25
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ommendations reached by the aviation 1
rulemaking committee; or 2
(ii) submit to Congress a supple-3
mental report with an explanation for each 4
such consensus recommendation not adopt-5
ed by the Administrator through an action 6
under clause (i). 7
(5) P
ROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION .—The 8
members of the aviation rulemaking committee con-9
vened under this subsection shall not receive pay, al-10
lowances, or benefits from the Federal Government 11
by reason of their service on such committee. 12
SEC. 4. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TRAINING IMPROVEMENTS 13
AND RETENTION INCENTIVES. 14
(a) FAA F
ACILITYTRAININGEQUIPMENTIMPROVE-15
MENTS.—Section 415 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 16
2024 (49 U.S.C. 44506 note) is amended by adding at 17
the end the following new subsection: 18
‘‘(f) F
UNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-19
priated $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 20
2031 for the purpose of the procurement and placement 21
of TSS at air traffic control facilities in the United States, 22
consistent with the requirements of this section.’’. 23
(b) A
IRTRAFFICCONTROLLERQUALIFICATIONIN-24
CENTIVES AND RETENTIONENHANCEMENTS.—Section 25
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44506 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by add-1
ing at the end the following new subsection: 2
‘‘(g) R
ETENTIONBONUSES.— 3
‘‘(1) CPC
QUALIFICATION INCENTIVE .—The 4
Secretary of Transportation shall establish, in ac-5
cordance with the requirements described in section 6
40122(a), a qualification incentive program for 7
trainees for the position of air traffic controller (as 8
defined in section 2109 of title 5, United States 9
Code) with the Department of Transportation. 10
‘‘(2) ATC
RETENTION INCENTIVE .—The Sec-11
retary of Transportation shall establish, in accord-12
ance with the requirements described in section 13
40122(a), a retention incentive program for air traf-14
fic controllers (as defined in section 2109 of title 5, 15
United States Code) with the Department of Trans-16
portation who are Certified Professional Control-17
lers.’’. 18
SEC. 5. OTHER IMPROVEMENTS. 19
(a) A
IRTRAFFICCONTROLLERMENTALHEALTH 20
I
MPROVEMENTS.— 21
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 22
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 23
Administrator shall establish, in consultation with 24
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aviation industry stakeholders and aviation medical 1
professionals, a training course to— 2
(A) support the development of mental 3
health providers with an innate knowledge and 4
understanding of the FAA criteria and decision 5
making regarding mental health conditions for 6
air traffic controllers; and 7
(B) develop advanced training programs 8
for Aviation Medical Examiners with respect to 9
mental health. 10
(2) C
ONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the 11
training course under paragraph (1), the Adminis-12
trator shall consider— 13
(A) the feasibility of virtual and in-person 14
course offerings; and 15
(B) the need for an advisory board to en-16
sure continuous improvement of the training 17
course. 18
(b) R
EPORT ON THE AIRPORTNON-COOPERATIVE 19
S
URVEILLANCERADARPROGRAM.—Not later than 90 20
days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 21
Administrator shall submit to the Committees on Com-22
merce, Science, and Transportation and Appropriations of 23
the Senate and the Committees on Transportation and In-24
frastructure and Appropriations of the House of Rep-25
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resentatives a report on the status of the Airport Non- 1
cooperative Surveillance Radar (in this subsection referred 2
to as ‘‘ANSR’’) program, including— 3
(1) a determination of funding needs for the 4
ANSR program; 5
(2) a cost-benefit analysis of the most effective 6
solutions to provide ongoing ANSR services, includ-7
ing a comparison of a sustainment approach versus 8
a replacement approach; 9
(3) an analysis of how the FAA intends to pro-10
vide commercial service airports with the necessary 11
equipment, including radar, to detect and mitigate 12
any threat posed by non-cooperative flying objects, 13
including aircraft, unmanned aerial systems, bal-14
loons, and other objects determined appropriate by 15
the Administrator; 16
(4) an update on the Radar Divestiture Pro-17
gram; 18
(5) the projected lifecycle support needs of the 19
existing inventory of non-cooperative Airport Surveil-20
lance Radar Models 8, 9, and 11; and 21
(6) any other information determined appro-22
priate by the Administrator. 23
Æ
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