The FAA hiring push has moved close to the finish line after a recruitment drive aimed at gamers helped the agency hire more than 2,000 air traffic controllers this year. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration has now reached 94% of its hiring goal, a sign that the agency is making progress in filling a critical safety role.
Duffy celebrated the latest results in a Facebook post and said, “We’re building the strongest, sharpest workforce in aviation history.” The FAA launched the gamer campaign in April with a pitch that linked video-game skills to the work of guiding aircraft safely through busy airspace. The agency said gamers often show strong multitasking, spatial awareness and problem-solving ability, and its promotional message told players, “You’ve been training for this.”
The campaign also reflected a broader effort to widen the pipeline for a profession that has struggled to attract enough new workers. The FAA said it wanted to reach young people pursuing paths outside the traditional college route, noting that only about 25 percent of controllers hold a conventional college degree. Officials also pointed to the size of the gaming community, saying more than 200 million Americans regularly play video games and that the industry brings in more money than film and music combined, according to PwC.
The hiring surge comes after years of strain in the air traffic control system. The FAA has had trouble fully staffing control towers since pandemic-era mass layoffs, and those shortages have unfolded alongside a series of accidents and close calls at airports. In March, an Air Canada flight struck a firetruck on a runway at LaGuardia Airport, killing the plane’s two pilots. Investigators are examining whether an air traffic controller briefly left the position to answer an emergency phone call before that collision.
