The FAA has made permanent a newer hiring pathway for Federal Contract Tower controllers, adding graduates from FAA-approved Control Tower Operator Partnership schools to the list of candidates eligible for hire by FCT companies.
The change appears in FAA Order JO 7210.3EE Change 3, effective July 9, 2026. The order sets FAA policy for facility operation and administration. Contract towers are FAA-funded air traffic control towers staffed by private companies, and many serve smaller airports with substantial general aviation activity.
CTO-P Added To Eligibility Rule
The revised eligibility language allows FCT companies to hire applicants who graduate from an FAA-approved CTO-P school. It also keeps the existing path for applicants who have a valid Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative tower endorsement letter. Developmental controllers hired through those paths still must complete required facility training before controlling traffic independently.
“This change will assist FAA Contract Tower (FCT) companies by allowing the FCTs to hire graduates from an FAA-approved Control Tower Partnership (CTO-P) school,” the FAA said in its explanation of changes. “This change also clarifies the language for eligibility for FCT hire from an E-CTI school.”
Before the CTO-P path was added, FCT companies generally hired from a smaller pool of controllers who already had a previous control tower operator certificate or an FAA Air Traffic Safety Oversight credential with a tower rating. FAA had also added the Enhanced AT-CTI route through an earlier notice.
Staffing Context
The change moves the CTO-P pathway from a temporary FAA notice into the standing rulebook for FCT hiring. According to the FAA’s briefing material, the CTO-P program is intended to prepare candidates for developmental controller jobs through classroom work and simulation training aligned with FAA Academy standards.
The Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General said in a March 24 report that the FCT program includes 266 contract towers in 46 states and territories. The report said contract towers account for about half of the control towers in the National Airspace System and handled more than 18 million tower operations in calendar year 2024.
“While FAA took steps to expand the controller hiring pool at contract towers, FCT contractors continue to face challenges in maintaining adequate staffing levels,” the DOT Office of Inspector General said in the report. “Based on our analysis of contractor MAFR data, as of April 2025, the FCT Program remained understaffed by 276 controllers, or roughly 18 percent of their workforce.”
The OIG report also said all four FCT contractors told auditors they had not hired any Enhanced AT-CTI graduates as of July 2025. The report cited attrition, wage rates, remote locations and high cost-of-living areas among the factors affecting contract tower staffing.
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