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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nMadison Gundy, 20, from Lakeland, is the first student to graduate with a Federal Tower Operator (CTO) certificate through Traviss Technical College and Polk County Public Schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gundy trained at the Bartow Executive Airport since March with instructor Randy Clayton and qualified in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clayton has been an air traffic control for 28 years. He was in the Navy for 11 years and in Afghanistan for three years, along with time worked in Jacksonville and Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two have been paired since March 3 in Bartow. They wear headsets and review actual scenarios in front of monitors that show every inch of the Bartow airbase, including a rambling tractor with no neon flags. Artificial intelligence gives scenarios to Gundy, who speaks back to the \u201cpilots\u201d to place them in safe runways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means coyotes, vehicles, people, incoming and outgoing planes, and storms. She must be able to identify each plane and know its capabilities as well as its call signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee that plane over there,\u201d said Clayton while eating lunch at Tantrums at the Bartow Executive Airport. \u201cIts wings are under it, which means the pilot can\u2019t see below.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s one of the many things Gundy will have to keep an eye on at all times while training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been great,\u201d said Clayton. \u201cShe is a hard-headed young woman. She\u2019s very intelligent and it\u2019s been a pleasure to train her. She\u2019s somebody who actually cares about traffic control. It\u2019s hard to find students who care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gundy has been the perfect student for the new endeavor. Air traffic controllers are needed now more than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had issues hiring since 2018,\u201d said Bartow Director of the Bartow Airport Authority John Helms. \u201cWe\u2019ve been brainstorming. We\u2019ve been trying to find alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Federal Aviation Administration trains the controllers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe thought, can\u2019t we just train our own controllers,\u201d asked Helms. \u201cThere\u2019s infrastructure and materials, which is more than we can bear ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2020, the FAA shut down the academy. Not to mention, they can only train so many controllers at one time, according to Helms. They didn\u2019t want to be in competition with the FAA, but Bartow definitely needed controllers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A large part of the issue is that an Associate or Bachelor\u2019s degree is attached to the FAA program, which equals a lot of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a trade,\u201d argued Helms. \u201cWe can provide the necessary experience. We have many resources to build in time for the pilots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, that\u2019s what Helms and Clayton did. They built a program and curriculum and worked through all the nuances and requirements. They walked it through with Polk County Public Schools. The program is one year with a license and a CIC (Controller in Command) certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They worked with the Federal Contract Towers to create an academy. Bartow has it all for the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a pretty busy airport with 100,000 operations with parallel and intersecting airways and at least 300 operations a day,\u201d said Helms. \u201cYou can get a lot of really good experience pushing traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gundy is now going through her proficiency and placement phase of training for the next six months to earn her controller in charge training (CIC) certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that point, she can contact Robinson Aviation (RVA), Serco (Management Services) and RVA Squared Aviation (CI), which gives her employment opportunities in the southeast, midwest, west and northwest regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gundy has been training on an UFA simulator, which mimics the programs that the Federal Aviation Administration and the military uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite which airport employs Gundy, she will be able to train for that system in Bartow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can learn the airfield layout here,\u201d translated Helms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen she gets there, all she has to do is get the basics down and be ready to go,\u201d said Clayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She will then train on the site of her new position for 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe has to learn the \u2018isms\u2019\u201d said Clayton, meaning that each airport has certain terms which only it uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt increased their preparedness to successfully re-certify,\u201d added Helms. \u201cThat\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before this, Gundy had planned to be a dental assistant. The change just happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was driving with my friend who is a pilot,\u201d said Gundy. \u201cI was like, \u2018I have to find something to do. Maybe go to school for something different because I really wasn\u2019t into dental assisting. It\u2019s ok to make money, but it\u2019s not something I\u2019m passionate about.\u2019 He mentioned one of the controllers had left. I didn\u2019t even know air traffic control was a thing or job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She applied to Bartow. She received a call and told the caller she was curious. Gundy sent her transcript to Traviss. She passed a drug test, a background check and a Class 2 flight physical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, her journey has been bumpy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She held the job while training. She also was a waitress, where she suffered a burn on her hand due to another employee\u2019s negligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd then she gets in an airplane and flies around with her friends,\u201d jokes Clayton. Gundy\u2019s friend has a pilot license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A deer hit her car and totalled it. The house she was staying in burned down, along with all her belongings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI kind of had to start over,\u201d Gundy calmly said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s enjoying her new career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something different,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very interesting and I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lives are on the line all around the screens Gundy sees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gundy is as calm as can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur purpose it to set the order that planes land on the runway,\u201d said Clayton. \u201cWe\u2019re making sure the appropriate separation on the runway wherever they touch down. Making sure that people who come into and out of the airspace are aware of each other. And that we give them the information that they need to protect themselves after that. It\u2019s a whole lot of coordination and a whole lot of communication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of that, Gundy has to coordinate with Tampa for jets flying in the air space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the training area, a diagram of the airfield is taped colorfully on the floor with runways and patterns. Students are given call signs. They become the planes acting in the airport using the runways on the floor. They are learning phraseology of the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair put their simulator headsets on. Artificial intelligence is used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clayton says, \u201cNovember five three two eight zulu Bartow ground runway nine or left taxi via alpha November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another speaker says, \u201cNovember Yankee bar to tower. Enter left down runway lane five. Report four miles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair must pay attention to every single thing on the airfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gundy can see the tiniest red light on the screen. It\u2019s an incoming plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am very pleased,\u201d said Helms. \u201cI believe we\u2019re moving on and I\u2019m optimistic about the future. We have a great group of students who are committed to the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In January, Gundy and the next class will train on the first all-digital control tower that\u2019s like an IMAX theater with a semicircle that captures the entire airfield by remote cameras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second class with two students begins in January. Madison and those students will learn and become certified on the digital system, which is less expansive than building towers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Traviss program is somewhat of an outlier because students are not trained by the FAA or through the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur goal here is to get them qualified through this process, get them a job with a federal aviation contract tower, and then in 52 weeks, there are eligible for the FAA,\u201d Clayton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the City of Bartow that inquired about the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are the only airport that trains pilots,\u201d said Helms. \u201cThese are very niche fields and are very aptitude based. The commission really wanted an education element. It doesn\u2019t need to be a barrier in the community. This is an opportunity to bring it back where it needs to be. With education at five years, we would never get down that shortage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The partnership with Traviss enables the cost to stay low for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a chance Gundy could stay in Polk County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019d really like to do,\u201d said Helms. \u201cWe could take controllers and with expansion to Winter Haven, we definitely have a need in a kind of theoretical role. We want to get them in to market to the FAA. We want to showcase Madison. She is an extremely confident controller.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s a first for Polk County. Madison Gundy, 20, from Lakeland, is the first student to graduate with a Federal Tower Operator (CTO) certificate through Traviss Technical College and Polk… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMTJcLzY5NDczMDJkZGM3NzUud2VicD9maXQ9NjQwJTJDNDI3JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiVHJhdmlzcyBUZWNobmljYWwgQ29sbGVnZSBpcyBmbHlpbmcgYWJvdmUgdGhlIHJlc3QiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.COgk-A9gIeUdjbskgbJHJ9xYMlpJ2T-81mWmIyCmiwUMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":60250,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/6947302ddc775.webp","type":"image\/webp"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[12976],"class_list":["post-60249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-traviss-technical-college-is-flying-above-the-rest"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60251,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60249\/revisions\/60251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}