DENVER — At just 19 years old, Adelaide Britton is this year's youngest graduate at Metropolitan State University Denver, and she's ready to soar to new heights.
The soon-to-be grad remembers the first time she stepped into the Aviation and Aerospace Sciences building on campus.
“We toured the aviation building, and I was not expecting it, and it was so cool. Just seeing how much attention has been paid and how much love you can tell is just in the building for the industry,” Britton said.
Thanks to the skills she learned through MSU Denver's air traffic control program, the 19-year-old is already in the process of becoming an air traffic controller (ATC).
“The air traffic control aptitude test was definitely intense. I did a weeklong prep thing for it, and I was sitting in my room like, 'Oh, wow,'” she said.
MSU Denver’s air traffic control concentration is one of only 36 higher education institutions nationwide designated by the Federal Aviation Administration as part of its collegiate training initiative.
“[It] takes a lot of time and resources, and the sooner, the better, because of the staffing shortage crisis that we're already in now, and I think it's especially, it's at people's fingertips in Colorado,” said adjunct faculty ATC instructor Evanna Dowis.
Most students who enter the department are interested in becoming pilots, but after taking a few courses, some of those students decide they want to go into the air traffic control program instead. According to MSU Denver, about five to nine percent of students end up going in that direction.
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Right now, there are 100 students in the program learning everything from weather to navigation to airspace. They’re ready to step into their careers amid an ongoing air traffic controller shortage nationwide.
Newark Liberty International Airport has been especially impacted by the shortage. On Monday night, the airport only had three controllers on duty. Normally, 14 are supposed to be on staff.
“The more [students] we get into the pipeline, the better,” said Dowis.
According to the Associated Press, the FAA is struggling to replace retiring workers while handling the growing air traffic. Being an ATC is a stressful job and can take years of training.
“From the time that they leave this classroom, they still have some years ahead of them till they're an actual body in the seat who can do the job,” said Dowis.
It's a challenging career, but MSU Denver’s ATC grads welcome that challenge with open arms.
“I'm ready to get my hands on it and just jump into the deep end on it and just do it and learn with people that are doing the same thing and interested in the same thing, and learn from people that have been doing it for a long time and know what they're talking about,” said Britton. “I think it will be a challenge, but an important one, and one that I'm ready for.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has made several moves to try to hire more controllers. The FAA is trying to shorten the time it takes between when someone applies to the air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City and when they start, and the agency is also trying to improve the graduation rate there by offering more support to the students. The candidates with the highest scores on the entrance exam are also getting top priority.
The FAA is also offering bonuses to experienced controllers if they opt not to retire early and continue working to help ease the shortage.
More high-tech simulators are also being used at airports across the country, including Newark, to train air traffic controllers. The FAA said Tuesday that controllers tend to complete training more quickly when they use one of the 111 simulators it has.
Josh Funk with the Associated Press contributed to this report.