It also needs to be put out there that the NTI came about at the time where staffing hit another all time low and Congress was starting to notice. This program is the FAA leadership making it look like they are doing something instead of watching it happen. Kinda like how the FAA told Congress they fixed ZJX by sending a bunch of trainees there. Anyone who knows anything knows that the problem isn’t solved at all, certainly not for a while, and probably that placement won’t be enough even after they certify. After all, It takes years to really get good on position, newly certified is the bare minimum of skill to work and not have someone ready to override you. But it makes it look like they are being proactive to the uninformed outside observer. While it’s true some facilities had (and some still do have) deeply rooted issues with training, overall that’s not the reason for the staffing shortage. The NTI is overall the agencies simplistic thinking that the reason there aren’t enough controllers is because there isn’t enough OJTI being conducted. Their idea is that If you train more, you will certify people faster and then we won’t have a staffing issue anymore. It’s simple jack logic and the situation is far more complex, but it’s easy enough for senior leadership and outsiders to digest while making it look like the agency is doing something about the staffing cliff they created. Something is better than nothing I suppose but just barely.
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