The US government plans to hire more air traffic controllers to address the long-term Federal Aviation Administration staffing shortages and increase public confidence in commercial flight safety.
Transport Secretary Mike Duffy said on February 27 that he would enact a plan to “replenish employment” for ATC workers by increasing the starting salary by 30%, making applications easier and more affordable.
Duffy says the FAA is “streaming” the eight-stage employment progression into five steps, eliminating “more than four months away from the old process.”
“We want the best and brightest people to enter the academy quickly, and we'll increase the pay for those who are training as an incentive to apply,” he says. “This administration is working to resolve the lack of air traffic regulations that have existed for too long.”
He has not specified the number of ATC employees the FAA plans to hire.
“Being an air traffic controller is one of the best and most rewarding jobs in America,” Duffy adds, and the US Department of Transportation (DOT) says, “Average Certified Professional Controllers make more than $160,000 a year.”
The move to boost ATC employment is due to the US administration of Donald Trump, which is centered around a considerable number of federal workers. And it follows reports earlier this month that the FAA fired hundreds of workers, saying it “has maintained employees performing important safety functions.”
Duffy previously said it had discussed Elon Musk's Government Efficiency (DOGE) and aviation-centric consultations on “quick safety upgrades” to the country's ATC system, which is based on decades-old technology.
In fact, Duffy's early tenure as Transport Secretary coincides with his period of concentration on aviation safety. He killed 67 people the day before the crash between PSA Airlines' regional jet planes and a US Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport, and was later taken to the role of the endeavor Air Regional Jet Crash of a fiery effort at Toronto Pearson International Airport. All 80 passengers on the latter jet survived.
The series of runway intrusions also contribute to the safety awareness of unstable airlines. More recently, Flexjet Business Jet entered the runway at Chicago Midway International Airport without ATC approval and forced a Boeing 737 run by Southwest Airlines to go around.
The widespread shortage of ATC workers has also been challenging for airline operations, particularly in Florida and Northeast USA.
US airline executives have expressed dissatisfaction with ATC-related delays at busy airport hubs. Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle recently lamented that the FAA “maybe we have to do that because we're not in our heads.”
But he added that Trump's administration “changes a lot.” I mean, I think that will change. It could be very good for ATC.”
