Embry-Riddle Trains Chinese Air Traffic Controllers

The unique collaboration is the indirect result of the major airlines' desire to gain overflight and landing rights from China which would lead to time and fuel saved from flying more direct routes and give them a share of the growing China travel market. In exchange for granting the rights, China is requiring airlines to pay for the English language and technical training of its air traffic controllers and pilots, which in turn will make aviation in that nation safer and attract more international flights.

The training program was piloted in 1995 when Delta Airlines and the CAAC sent 30 Chinese air traffic controllers to the University's Daytona Beach campus to improve their skills in English, the language of worldwide aviation. Most air traffic controllers in China have learned English in high school or college, but many are not very proficient, particularly in remote provincial airports.

At Embry-Riddle, the Delta-sponsored visitors sat in a classroom to learn what Elizabeth Mathews, director of the Language Institute, terms "functional English," including American phrases and slang expressions. "They also learned the standard phrasing of air traffic control English as recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)," which may eventually become the FAA of the world, she says. Each day's classroom lessons were followed by workouts in the Air Traffic Control Simulation Laboratory, where students put their English to practice -- guiding flights "piloted" by Embry-Riddle students flying simulated aircraft.

The joint program was the first such international training effort that Delta has taken part in and funded. Delta chose Embry-Riddle because "we were impressed with the quality of the school and our successful co-op program with their students," says Dave Boaz, the airline's managing director in China. The program with Delta "set a good precedent," Boaz says. "I've told many people in industry about the model Embry-Riddle set up and the bonding with the students that took place."

On September 8, 1997 air traffic controllers arrived on campus to begin an eight-week training program. The special program is designed to bring the air traffic controllers' skills up to ICAO standards and improve their English language skills. The controllers, who are in their late 20s and early 30s, represent the future of Chinese aviation. Embry-Riddle's commitment to becoming a worldwide powerhouse in aeronautical education and training, demonstrated in the work done with previous groups of controllers, has favorably disposed CAAC to the University. Of course, Florida's weather and a location near the Kennedy Space Center and Disney World haven't hurt the program either.

The University is paying particular attention to the Asia-Pacific region, where aviation and aerospace are growing at an astounding rate, according to Paul McDuffee, vice president for university relations. To illustrate, he points out that in the past five years, only five new airports have been built in the U.S. and Europe, while the Asia-Pacific region is completing its 23rd.

"The International Air Transport Association has projected that the region's current 23 percent share of the world's air traffic will grow to 50 percent by 2006, and that the region will need to fill more than 15 million jobs in aviation and aerospace over the next 10 years," McDuffee says. "The plans for growth in Asian aviation are promising for Embry-Riddle because the infrastructure is still developing and few educational institutions there are prepared to meet those needs," he says. "It's a ripe area for us, and we continue to pursue opportunities aggressively."

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the world's leading university specializing in aviation and aerospace education, training and research. Its curriculum covers engineering, research, manufacturing, marketing, and management of modern aircraft and the systems that support them. The University has residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and a network of more than 100 education centers in the United States and Europe.