Middle Georgia State nurtures young air controllers to combat FAA staff shortages

EASTMAN, Ga. - High above Heart of Georgia Regional Airport in Eastman, Emma Shaver is in the tower, in training to be an air traffic controller.

"I’ve always liked planes, I like them a lot more now that I am around them all the time," she said.

The Atlanta native is part of Middle Georgia State University's Air Traffic Management program, but with lives on the line, the job she wants is not for the faint of heart.

"You really have to be two steps ahead of everything, know what you're going to say, what you're going to do if something fails," Shaver said.

The Middle Georgia State program is already a pipeline to the FAA, but soon it could get even better for those considering this as a career.

"I feel really excited for what we're going to be able to offer the students," said Angela Taylor, from Middle Georgia State University.

Taylor is the tower chief at the airport and an instructor at Middle Georgia. The school just applied for a new higher-level program that would let graduates skip the FAA Academy and instead start training on the job.

"What makes you guys so prepared to be able to take on this new enhanced program from the FAA," asked FOX 5’s Tyler Fingert.

"The people that we have here, we have ex-military, FAA controllers, and we have been through that type of training," Taylor responded.

This program is one of several ways the FAA hopes to boost staffing.

"Whether you go to the academy or whether you go to one of the partnership colleges, you will come out with the same level of education," said Christopher Wilbanks, the FAA Air Traffic Technical Training Director.

A 2023 U.S. DOT Inspector General report found 77% of critical facilities are considered short-staffed, including two of Atlanta's FAA locations. That comes as the agency deals with a number of close calls. New longer rest rules for controllers may help, but their union is not so sure.

"Nothing has been off the table, but the thing that we make sure we keep in the forefront of our minds is whatever changes we make, we do not want to lower the standard, and we do not want to introduce risk," Wilbanks said.

Between now and 2026, the FAA says it plans to fill more than 6,000 jobs, but leaders say it could take five years to get staffing where they want it.

Lithonia native Chandler Ingram is hoping to snag one of those openings.

"I want to just get out there and really start doing it," he said. "Like, I'm in the simulations and stuff, and I can't wait to really do it."

Middle Georgia State is still working its way through the approval process.

That comes as lawmakers are also working on the FAA Reauthorization Act, which, among other things, will help with staffing.