Metropolitan Sytems Information Statement 1989

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• A;r controllers will be trained In new program in Eden Prairie By David Phelps Staff Writer By early next year, a one -of -a -kind program to train air traffic control- lers for the Federal Aviation Admin- . istration (FAA) should be underway at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prai- rie, Twenty-five students are expected to be in the first class of a nine -month course that will produce graduates ready to step into the nation's control towers and air traffic centers. Within three years, the Flying Cloud facility should be graduating 500 controllers a year. • Most of the students will be gradu- ates of two- and four-year aviation courses at state colleges and voca- tional -technical institutes. Students from neighboring states are expected. The Universitytof North Dakota, for . example, is pan of the consortium -that developed' the Minnesota pro- gram. The new program will be a combined state and federal experiment to re- duce training costs and meet the growing need for additional control- lers over the next decade. The FAA estimates it needs 2,000 a year' to . meet expected demand. The govern-- ment currently trains between 1,500 and 2,000 a year. The Minnesota training facility has been endorsed by the FAA. Congress ' is in the process of providing funds. The program needs S9.I million over the next two years. The House has approved S3.4 million for next year, and the Senate is expected to concur with the appropriation. If money is available when the government's fis- cal year begins Oct. 1, classes for new controllers could begin in January. School officials expect to hire be- tween 10 and 20 instructors, • U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo, D-Minn., has been an enthusiastic supporter of the training program and used his posi- tion on .the House Appropriations Committee to promote its financing.. "1 think there's a good chance this program. v.•ill survive," Sabo said Monday. "All parties seem enthusias- tic after becoming acquainted with the program. It should be a good opportunity for Minnesotans."• Controllers currently receive training from: the FAA at its academy in Oklahoma City. It is a costly process because prospective controllers are on the government payroll during training. but only six out of 10 candi- dates graduate and go on to be con- trollers. Federal officials estimate that S15 million a year is spent on students who wash out of the pro- gram. Under terms of the Minnesota pro- gram. controllers would not go on the government payroll until after gradu- ation. Officials expect little difficulty getting students because of the fairly attractive pay scale for controllers — beginners earn S24,000 a year. • FAA officials were receptive to the' Minnesota school in large part be- cause of the historically high perfor- mance of Minnesota students at the Oklahoma City facility. The" controller., students will receive much of the training in the vacant, once -posh' -headquarters of Flight, Transportation Corp„ which was in- volved in one of the largest securities fraud cases in Minnesota history. By the time -classes begin, however, most of the buildings luxurious ap- pointments will be gone and I J.000 square feet of thickly carpeted space •will be converted into ordinary class - The building now is owned by the Minneapolis School District, which • uses Flight. Transportation's hangar space. for an aircraft mechanics . course that is offered through the vocational•technicaI. school.