The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)  says it is on schedule in its plan to hire and train nearly 17,000 air traffic controllers over the next decade. The FAA hired over 1,800 controllers last year and expects to hire nearly 1,900 in fiscal year 2008. “We’re on target,” said Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell. “Significant improvements in the way we recruit, hire and train people are helping us manage through this predicted transition period.” Recent data show key improvements in training methods lowered the training time to become a fully certified controller from an average of three to five years to an average of two to three years. The rigorous standards to become a Certified Professional Controller remain the same – the improved training means developmentals reach required proficiency goals sooner. All controllers must pass a series of increasingly complex and challenging stages in training before becoming fully certified. Twenty-one new classes were added to the FAA Academy in order to accommodate the growing enrollment. The number of colleges and universities accredited to teach air traffic control as part of a college degree – called Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) schools – increased by nine last year to now total 23. The long-expected retirement wave of controllers who were hired after the 1981 PATCO strike resulted in the retirement of over 800 controllers in 2007. The agency expects to finish the year with a controller workforce of 15,130, a net increase of 256 from the previous year.