The US government plans to hire more air traffic controllers in a bid to address long-term Federal Aviation Administration staffing shortages and boost public confidence in the safety of flying commercially.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on 27 February that he would enact a plan to “supercharge the hiring” of ATC workers by making it easier and more affordable to apply, and by boosting starting salaries by 30%.
Duffy says that the FAA is “streamling” its eight-step hiring progression into five steps, eliminating “more than four months off the old process”.
“We want the best and brightest to get expedited entry into the academy, and as an incentive to apply, we will be increasing the pay for those in training,” he says. ”This administration is committed to solving the air traffic control shortage that has existed for too long.”
He does not specify how many ATC employees the FAA plans to hire.
Duffy adds that “being an air traffic controller is one of the best, most rewarding jobs in America”, with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) noting that the ”average certified professional controller makes over $160,000 per year”.
The move to boost ATC hiring comes as US Predident Donald Trump’s administration axes significant numbers of federal workers. And it follows reports earlier this month that the FAA had laid off several hundred workers, though it maintained at the time that it “retained employees who perform critical safety functions”.
Duffy has previously said that he has held aviation-focused talks with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) about making “rapid safety upgrades” to the country’s ATC systems, which are based on decades-old technology.
Indeed, Duffy’s early tenure as transportation secretary has coincided with a period of intensely heightened focus on aviation safety. He was sworn into role the day before the crash between a PSA Airlines regional jet and a US Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan National airport that killed 67 people, which was followed by a fiery Endeavor Air regional jet crash at Toronto Pearson International airport. All 80 passengers aboard the latter jet survived.
A series of runway incursions have also contributed to perceptions of shaky airline safety. Most recently, a Flexjet business jet entered the runway at Chicago Midway International airport without ATC authorisation, forcing a Southwest Airlines-operated Boeing 737 to perform a go-around.
A widespread shortage of ATC workers has also been challenging for airline operations, particularly in Florida and the Northeast USA.
US airline executives have frequently expressed frustration with ATC-related delays at busy airport hubs. Frontier Airlines chief executive Barry Biffle recently lamented that the FAA might ”have to do it with less head count”.
But he added that Trump’s administration ”changes a lot of things, right? I mean, I think it’s going to change. It could be very good for ATC”.
