Air Traffic Control: Recruitment and Training
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of air traffic controller recruitment and training capacity; and what steps she is taking to ensure adequate air traffic controller staffing for regional airports.
Answered by Keir Mather
Air Traffic Control services in the UK operate in the private sector and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) who provide these services must ensure that they have adequate resources in place to safely operate. The pipeline for training new Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) is robust, with UK training centres currently operating at capacity. However, my department has just introduced secondary legislation giving the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) powers to recognise the previous training of third country and military ATCO’s towards meeting the requirements needed to achieve a UK civil ATCO licence. This will reduce the time it takes these individuals to become a civil ATCO in the UK and increase resilience across the sector.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →