The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Wednesday it will be allowing two Oklahoma schools to move forward with programs that would allow new air traffic controllers to skip the agency’s training academy.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will begin taking new applications for flight controllers Oct. 11 as it works to reverse a decades-long decline in its workforce.

The agency is looking to reduce bottlenecks as it attempts to reverse a longstanding slide in air traffic controller staffing.

As part of its efforts to speed up hiring new air traffic controllers to address staff shortages in the US, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced the names of two colleges chosen for its Enhanced AT-CTI program.

The Federal Aviation Administration says that graduates of two college air traffic control programs can now bypass the agency’s backlogged training academy.