{"id":193169,"date":"2026-04-11T07:20:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193169\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T07:20:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:20:30","slug":"faa-wants-to-hire-gamers-as-air-traffic-controllers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193169\/","title":{"rendered":"FAA wants to hire gamers as air-traffic controllers"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 The FAA is seeking out gamers to become air-traffic controllers.<\/p>\n

A video<\/a> released by the federal Department of Transportation on Friday targeted the video-game enthusiasts as part of the government\u2019s hiring surge aimed at adding close to 9,000 more air-traffic controllers by 2028<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The video asks the gamers whether they\u2019re \u201cup for the challenge\u201d of becoming an ATC but cautions that the job isn\u2019t just a \u201cgame\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s a \u201ccareer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll keep millions of people safe every day,\u201d the video says, while touting average salaries of up to $155,000 by your third year on the job.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s two pilots in March.<\/p>\n

NTSB probers are trying to determine whether an air-traffic controller stepped away to answer an emergency phone call before the deadly collision<\/a> and if staffing problems may have contributed to the horror.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"AMany air-traffic controllers are gamers, and the past time has similarities with their work, according to exit interviews of the workers. AdriaVidal \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The hiring effort hunting gamers is aimed at \u201csupercharging\u201d recruitment efforts. No college degree is required.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt,\u201d\u00a0Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis campaign\u2019s 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"AnThere are 11,000 ATCs currently on the job and another 4,000 trainees soon following them into service for the FAA. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to President Trump \u2014 we\u2019ve already made incredible progress with the highest controller staffing levels in six years. There\u2019s never been a more exciting time to become a controller and level up into a career with a strong purpose \u2014 keeping American families safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, 11,000 ATCs are on the job and another 4,000 trainees are soon following them into service for the FAA.<\/p>\n

At least 2,400 were onboarded in the last year \u2014 making it the largest class of incoming ATCs to date and a record year for enrollment at the ATC Academy in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

The FAA is planning to bring on 8,900 new ATCs by the end of fiscal year 2028 \u2014 with 2,000 in 2025, and 2,200 in 2026, 2,300 in 2027 and 2,400 in 2028.<\/p>\n

Between January 2025 and September 2025, DOT touted hiring 20% more ATCs than over the same period the previous year.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Duffy promised in the aftermath of the January 2025 crash \u201cto surge air traffic controllers\u201d through training pipelines to \u201cbring in the best and the brightest.\u201d<\/p>\n

After launching a merit-based pilot hiring push the next month, Duffy noted, \u201cThe\u00a0American people don\u2019t care what their pilot looks like or their\u00a0gender \u2014\u00a0they just care that they\u00a0are\u00a0most qualified man or woman for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg similarly sought to boost ATC applications \u2014 but with a focus on encouraging submissions \u201cfrom women, minorities and individuals in underrepresented communities,\u201d according to a July 2021 press release.<\/p>\n

That move came as part of a push within the DOT under former President Joe Biden that handed out more than\u00a0$80 billion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-focused initiatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 The FAA is seeking out gamers to become air-traffic controllers. A video released by the federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3346,5459,31108,9,11,10,87,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-193169","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-air-travel","9":"tag-department-of-transportation","10":"tag-hirings-and-firings","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-news","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}