FAA wants to hire gamers as air-traffic controllers
WASHINGTON — The FAA is seeking out gamers to become air-traffic controllers.
A video released by the federal Department of Transportation on Friday targeted the video-game enthusiasts as part of the government’s hiring surge aimed at adding close to 9,000 more air-traffic controllers by 2028.
The video asks the gamers whether they’re “up for the challenge” of becoming an ATC but cautions that the job isn’t just a “game” — it’s a “career.
“You’ll keep millions of people safe every day,” the video says, while touting average salaries of up to $155,000 by your third year on the job.
The hiring blitz comes after the tragic crash of an Air Canada flight into a firetruck on the runway at LaGuardia in New York City that killed the jet’s two pilots in March.
NTSB probers are trying to determine whether an air-traffic controller stepped away to answer an emergency phone call before the deadly collision and if staffing problems may have contributed to the horror.
Exit interviews with air-traffic controllers who leave the job show gaming is a hobby for many and shares similarities with their work, officials said.
The hiring effort hunting gamers is aimed at “supercharging” recruitment efforts. No college degree is required.
“To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
“This campaign’s innovative communication style and focus on gaming taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller,” he said.
“Thanks to President Trump — we’ve already made incredible progress with the highest controller staffing levels in six years. There’s never been a more exciting time to become a controller and level up into a career with a strong purpose — keeping American families safe.”
Currently, 11,000 ATCs are on the job and another 4,000 trainees are soon following them into service for the FAA.
At least 2,400 were onboarded in the last year — making it the largest class of incoming ATCs to date and a record year for enrollment at the ATC Academy in Oklahoma City.
The FAA is planning to bring on 8,900 new ATCs by the end of fiscal year 2028 — with 2,000 in 2025, and 2,200 in 2026, 2,300 in 2027 and 2,400 in 2028.
Between January 2025 and September 2025, DOT touted hiring 20% more ATCs than over the same period the previous year.
The year before the LaGuardia crash, an American Airlines commuter jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while attempting to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing all 67 passengers and crew aboard both aircraft.
Duffy promised in the aftermath of the January 2025 crash “to surge air traffic controllers” through training pipelines to “bring in the best and the brightest.”
After launching a merit-based pilot hiring push the next month, Duffy noted, “The American people don’t care what their pilot looks like or their gender — they just care that they are most qualified man or woman for the job.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg similarly sought to boost ATC applications — but with a focus on encouraging submissions “from women, minorities and individuals in underrepresented communities,” according to a July 2021 press release.
That move came as part of a push within the DOT under former President Joe Biden that handed out more than $80 billion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-focused initiatives.
