SAN ANTONIO — Inside an air traffic control tower, every quick decision matters. While the stakes aren’t nearly as high, the same can be said for competitive video games. The similarity is the reason behind the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to recruit young, competitive video game players to become air traffic controllers.
Max Gonzalez, a student at San Antonio’s CAST Tech High School, is part of the local high school esports league R20 along with his team, the Cyber Knights. They play a video game called Valorant, which requires two teams of five players each. Gonzalez, who acts as the team captain, says communication and quick-thinking are key to winning their competitions.
“It’s a team sport,” Gonzalez said. “You have to focus on specific people’s strengths and weaknesses, especially in a team environment.”
He says the skills that young gamers are building should be viewed as a positive more often, and he’s glad the FAA has taken interest.
“These are legitimate skills that I’m developing,” Gonzalez said.
The FAA expects to lose more than 5,000 air traffic controllers over the next few years. To fill that gap and build the next generation of controllers, they want to reach younger applicants.
In a now-closed application window, the FAA says it received more than 12,000 applications and expects to hire at least 8,900 people over the next two years.