OKC Academy.....BAD News

ATC wannabe · February 28th, 2008, 21:09

Not sure if anyone else has heard this.....Sorry to give a little bad news. If you go on the FAA website and look up the training catalog it shows you course offereings and the dates. Well I checked it last week and there were basic classing starting in April. Well as of yesterday they took off all the ones after March 18th and from what I understand they have lost some instructors out in OKC. They have postings out to hire some, so I'm not sure how this is going to effect things. Obvoiously slow them down for those of us that were anticipating an April school date.

JT ATC · February 28th, 2008, 23:24

Well they changed the way they are hiring people. Now they are having mass hiring sessions in certain cities.

I wouldn't freak out based on a website dude. I have a couple of friends in OKC now and they are preparing for a mass invasion of trainees.

The FAA said they had 3000 applicants last month for ATC. I'd be amazed if 40% of those applicants actually become controllers.

SoonerATC · February 29th, 2008, 00:07

You bring up a good point, ATC wannabe. Right now, Terminal option students run one class per day and enroute students run two classes a day. In order to get as many students through the Academy as possible, they are actually adding a second shift to Terminal starting in March and they are considering adding (not sure if they have actually implemented this part or not) a THIRD shift for Enroute students, which would go overnight. From what I understand, it was this last decision that really pushed many of the instructors over the edge and caused many to hand in their resignations.

It's really ironic - the situation in the field is what is causing the FAA to have to push through this many students in the first place, but this added stress is actually pushing many instructors - who retired from the field - out of the Academy as well.

I'm not sure how this affects AT Basics specifically - maybe they just don't see the need to have that many Basics classes if there aren't enough instructors to teach the follow on Enroute/Terminal classes.

kcarpentier · February 29th, 2008, 05:27

where's this website you speak of? I'm at work and I don't want to keep looking for it... I mean it's bad enough i come to this site like 30 times a day!

I wouldn't mind being pushed back a little further, I wanna save up (a ton) more money before my pay gets cut in half!

ATC wannabe · February 29th, 2008, 06:29

The website to look at the catalog is:

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...grams/academy/

Once here on the left hand side it says training catalog. Then once you open that pull up air traffic training and that will give you a whole list of courses. Now there are 4 that an OTS will be intersted in right now. Those are Air Traffic Basics and Intial Tower Cab. They break them up according to termianl (2 classes) or enroute (2 classes).

kcarpentier · February 29th, 2008, 06:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATC wannabe

The website to look at the catalog is:

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...grams/academy/

Once here on the left hand side it says training catalog. Then once you open that pull up air traffic training and that will give you a whole list of courses. Now there are 4 that an OTS will be intersted in right now. Those are Air Traffic Basics and Intial Tower Cab. They break them up according to termianl (2 classes) or enroute (2 classes).

AH! got it, I even got to the right page for the classes, I just didnt scroll down far enough to see the link to the scheduled classes!

Thanks!

ATLTRACON · February 29th, 2008, 08:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by JT ATC

The FAA said they had 3000 applicants last month for ATC. I'd be amazed if 40% of those applicants actually become controllers.

I'd be suprised if 10% become controllers.

flyguy63 · February 29th, 2008, 15:13

I heard they are restructuring the classes and do so every so often. Hopefully this is just a small transitioning phase and they only had to pull the dates off because of the restructuring they are doing. I hope i get my class date soon.

Polarbear · February 29th, 2008, 23:26

Panicking over that schedule does not make sense, it is never accurate. My class dates weren't even showing the day I received the call for my final offer.

I know several people in En Route and terminal training. Everything I have heard indicates things are running fine and the training class schedules are getting ready to be ramped up. From what I gather from those that were around after the strike in 1981, the training program is in the same shape as it was in 1981-83. They have to tweak the schedule and get things ramped up before it will run as a smoother machine.

Yes En Route has two shifts, from what I understand the classes switch between the shifts through the training. You'll have days for a few weeks and then you'll have 2nd shift for a while or some combination like that.

Basics classes are running as scheduled. There are three classes running, all starting at 7am(I am actually looking forward to second shift after moving to En Route initial training, coming in at 3PM would be best for me as I am not a morning person). It seems a new class begins roughly every two weeks. Some start on Monday, others start on Thursday or Friday. There are at least 3 instructors-in-training right now and I suspect they will start running 2 shifts of "basics" classes in the near future after they are fully "Checked Out" to teach.

From what I gather from the instructors there may be some classes that start later than 3PM, but there will most likely not be a true third shift. If the instructors were FAA employees, I could see that. However, I do not think the University of Oklahoma will have their instructors doing that. If they do, most would probably quit and then OU would lose their freshly inked contract with the FAA to provide ATC training at the MMAC.

As for those heading to ARTCC's here is a heads up. ERAM training is hitting full swing. Current CPC's have to retrain on this before you can get your training. Paywise does this suck? Yes. Trainingwise, maybe not as much. Fox Xray or other ARTCC CPC's please chime in if I am wrong, but by having D, R, or R/D combined classes delayed we will have a lot of time available to plug in and learn what is going on so that D side and R side school/training will be easier.

Beehive · March 1st, 2008, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATLTRACON

I'd be suprised if 10% become controllers.

I'll be in that 10% bracket.

ATC RET 2003 · March 1st, 2008, 20:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beehive

I'll be in that 10% bracket.

Awwwrriiiiiight!!
Keep thinking like that and you likely will!

JT ATC · March 2nd, 2008, 01:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beehive

I'll be in that 10% bracket.

That is definetly the attitude you need to have in this job.

ATC wannabe · March 2nd, 2008, 20:13

Well......There are new classes posted to the online database. WOOHOO.

I am going to do WHATEVER it takes to make sure I am in that 10% too.

flyguy63 · March 5th, 2008, 16:30

Just got my class date. Starts on 3/31. OTS and going to Roswell.

codwell · March 5th, 2008, 16:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyguy63

Just got my class date. Starts on 3/31. OTS and going to Roswell.

how long after the interview was it before you found out when and where yo be going

flyguy63 · March 5th, 2008, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by codwell

how long after the interview was it before you found out when and where yo be going

I'm thinking you're asking about how long after my interview did i get my class date. I actually had my interview all the way back at the beginning of October and probably would of been in a January class date had I wanted to go to OKC then. I finally sent in all my stuff for my background check about 3-4 weeks ago. I just wanted to spend some time with my family and aging grandparents before moving far away from them. Here's my time line in case you are interested:

6/15/07-All my applications closed on this day
8/09/07-Got letter to take the at-sat
8/22/07-Tested for the at-sat
end of september/early october-interview for zab
couple weeks later- tenative offer

kcarpentier · March 5th, 2008, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyguy63

6/15/07-All my applications closed on this day
8/09/07-Got letter to take the at-sat
8/22/07-Tested for the at-sat
end of september/early october-interview for zab
couple weeks later- tenative offer

Wow!! All mine closed 6/14, I didn't get contacted to take the AT-SAT til late Nov, took the test Dec 27th and I still haven't been interviewed. crazy.