Summary

Expands the FAA’s Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) by creating an Enhanced-CTI grant program to help colleges train air traffic controller candidates, funds training equipment for control facilities, and establishes incentives to qualify and retain controllers. It also authorizes noncompetitive hiring of program graduates, adds certain instructors to a faculty annuity supplement, requires FAA to convene a rulemaking committee to review curricula and the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA), and mandates mental-health training for ATC medical personnel plus a report on the Airport Non‑Cooperative Surveillance Radar program. The bill authorizes recurring equipment funding ($20 million/year for FY2026–2031) for placement of training systems at facilities, creates trainee qualification and certified-controller retention incentives, and sets deadlines for committee recommendations and agency responses and reports to Congress.

Key Points

• Creates an Enhanced-CTI grant program to expand college training pathways into air traffic control careers.
• Authorizes noncompetitive hiring for Enhanced-CTI graduates to accelerate entry into FAA controller positions.
• Adds certain CTI instructors to a faculty annuity supplement to improve instructor compensation.
• Requires a rulemaking committee to review CTI curricula and the ATSA exam and compels FAA to act on consensus recommendations or explain deviations.
• Authorizes $20 million per year (FY2026–2031) to buy and deploy training systems at control facilities.
• Directs DOT to establish trainee qualification incentives and retention incentives for Certified Professional Controllers.
• Requires FAA to implement mental-health-focused training for ATC medical personnel within 180 days.
• Mandates a 90-day FAA report to Congress on the Airport Non‑Cooperative Surveillance Radar (ANSR) program.

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