[10] Programs include aerospace engineering, aircraft maintenance, commercial airline piloting, air traffic control, and flight instructor.

To ensure safety and compliance with regulations, demand for qualified staff was high; there was a need to harmonise communications among sectors of the aviation industry.

During the postwar years, there was a lack of unity in the civil-aviation industry due to the hasty recruitment of large numbers of people from different backgrounds.

The creation of these groups was followed by a ministerial decision on 12 August 1948 which paved the way for the first recruitment by competitive examination, which was held in October 1948.

On 14 April 1948, the International Civil Aviation Organization established requirements for aircrew licensing, including a minimum number of flight hours for each category of pilot.

Jules Moch, the Minister of Works, Transport and Tourism, unsuccessfully proposed the name "École nationale de l'aviation marchande".

As noted in a report of the inspection générale de l'aviation civile, "It was in the minds of the creators of the university to develop between the aircrew and the ground staff a community of ideas, reciprocal knowledge, and esteem, that are essential for the teamwork required by air transport."

The previous year, the university held training sessions on an experimental basis and was responsible for teaching theory for the airline transport pilot licence.

In accordance with a of 31 March 1951 decree, the Service de l'aviation légère et sportive (SALS) provided free flight training for pilot candidates coming from the army.

[22] ENAC benefited from the postwar development of aviation, and a number of students came from foreign countries or (in particular) overseas territories which later became independent.

[23] Students took an annual trip from ENAC Orly, and were received (in full uniform) by local authorities on their arrival.

Its location offered easy access to planes for navigation flights, promotional trips and other activities; leaders of nearby airlines, aircraft manufacturers and other aviation-related businesses could come to the university for lectures and conferences.

However, the rapid growth of traffic at Paris-Orly before the construction of Charles de Gaulle Airport brought new challenges.

Requirements for ENAC's aircraft became more stringent, and Aéroports de Paris became increasingly reluctant to renew the university's lease.

Potential locations were cities near Paris airports; between 1954 and 1957, Thiais, Rungis, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Les Mureaux and Le Bourget were considered.

Within a 150-kilometre-mile (93 mi) radius of the capital, cities under consideration included Melun, Pontoise, Coulommiers, Étampes, Reims, Évreux, Chartres and Orléans.

A 20 May 1959 report listed the disadvantages of a location too distant from Paris, however, such as the difficulty of transporting personnel, the possible extension of courses, and increased operating costs.

ENAC's transfer to Toulouse was approved by Prime Minister Michel Debré on 15 June 1961[33] and confirmed by his successor, Georges Pompidou, in a 23 July 1963 letter.

The confidential 12 March 1952 Brancourt Controller said that the university had "a lack of curriculum", "there is ... tension with the training center of Air France", and "ENAC is a mistake".

[full citation needed] These difficulties were largely due to incompatibility between ENAC and the civil-aviation industry, which required it to provide courses for students and trainees who were not necessarily officials of the Direction générale de l'aviation civile (DGAC, its supervisory authority) and to use a varied teaching staff.

Continuing education diversified at the same time[46] in five main areas: air-traffic control, electronics, computers, aeronautics and languages.

[49][50] The three grandes écoles of this network, in partnership with the DGAC and French companies such as EADS, Airbus, Thales, Eurocopter, and Safran[51]),[52] founded the Institut sino-européen d'ingénierie de l'aviation (Chinese-European Aviation Engineering Institute) in Tianjin in 2007, with master's and mastère spécialisé programs for Chinese students.

It aims to guide the training and research council in reforming the school's engineering program and fostering corporate partnerships.

The foundation consists of technical and human resources managers from aerospace companies such as Air France, Airbus, Aéroport de Paris, Rockwell Collins, Thalès and Aéroconseil.

DGAC air-traffic controller and air traffic safety electronics personnel (IESSA) training is provided by the university.

Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests officials are trained at the École des ponts ParisTech; about 300 course hours are organized in cooperation with ENAC for students desiring to join the DGAC.

[112] Hosting over 7,500 students in more than 600 courses annually, with revenue of €15 million, ENAC is Europe's largest organization for aeronautical continuing education.

Courses are in air traffic, electronics, computer science, aeronautical engineering, and aircraft control (flight instructor), for French and foreign businesses and CGAC personnel.

In mid-2009, research teams were in the following laboratories: automatique – recherche opérationnelle (LARA) (automation – operational research),[125] économie – d'économétrie de l'aérien (LÉÉA) (economy – air econometrics),[126] étude – d'optimisation des architectures des réseaux de télécommunications (LÉOPART) (optimization of telecommunications network architecture),[127][128] électromagnétisme pour les télécommunications aéronautiques (LÉTA) (electromagnetism for aeronautical telecommunications),[129] informatique interactive (LII) (interactive computing),[130] mathématiques appliquées (LMA) (applied mathematics), optimisation du trafic aérien (LOTA) (air-traffic optimization), and traitement du signal pour les télécommunications aéronautiques (LTST) (signal processing for aeronautical telecommunications).

[135] At the end of 2011, ENAC established a research organization consisting of six programs (UAVs and air-traffic control, airports, aircraft and air operations, human-computer interaction, air-ground communications and sustainable development) in four laboratories: applied mathematics – optimization – optimal control – control engineering operations research (MAIAA); signal processing – satellite positioning system – electromagnetism – networks (TELECOM); architecture – modeling – engineering of interactive systems (LII), and economics – air transport econometrics (LEEA).