FAA Launches Ambitious Push to Hire Nearly 9,000 Air Traffic Controllers by 2028

Image Credit : Gemini AI

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has unveiled a major recruitment drive: the agency plans to hire about 8,900 new air traffic controllers through the end of 2028, an effort aimed at easing a chronic staffing shortfall that has strained U.S. airspace operations for years. This is one of the largest workforce pushes in modern FAA history — and it reflects both the scale of the problem and the agency’s determination to rebuild the pipeline of trained controllers as quickly as practicable.

Put simply: the FAA wants more people in the tower, radar room and center aisles. But turning hiring targets into certified professionals is a complex, time-consuming process, and the agency faces several structural and operational hurdles as it ramps up recruitment.

The numbers: what the FAA is planning

Under the FAA’s updated Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, the agency anticipates hiring roughly 2,000 controllers in FY2025, about 2,200 in FY2026, and continuing hires each year through 2028 to reach the 8,900-controller total. These hires are intended to make inroads into a shortfall created by a combination of retirements, pandemic-era attrition, and limits on training throughput.

The FAA’s public workforce documents note that the controller labor pool reached 14,264 in fiscal 2024, and the agency has hired more than 5,700 controllers over the last five years — but retirements and the difficulty of training new controllers keep vacancy numbers stubbornly high. The new plan is designed to widen the pipeline and raise the yearly output of fully trained controllers.

Why such a big push? The root causes

Several overlapping trends created the staffing squeeze:

• A wave of retirements and mandatory retirement age has removed seasoned controllers from the workforce faster than replacements could be certified.

  
  

• Training bottlenecks: much of controller training is centralized at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, which creates capacity constraints and long waits for on-the-job training slots.

  
  

• “Washout” rates: the path to becoming a certified professional controller (CPC) is demanding; many candidates do not complete the training cycle, which raises the number of initial hires needed to achieve a given number of certified controllers.

  
  

• Operational stresses and workload during and after the pandemic led some staff to leave the profession, increasing pressure on the remaining workforce.

The result is a classic pipeline problem: hire more people, but also fix the pipeline so more of those hires make it through training to the front lines.

How the FAA plans to bridge the gap

The FAA’s plan blends short- and longer-term measures:

1. Boost hiring targets and academy throughput — the FY2026 budget proposed support for training up to 2,500 trainees in the year, helping fuel the larger hiring aim.

   
   

2. Expand recruiting and outreach — the agency has increased testing referrals and outreach to attract a wider array of candidates, including tapping university programs and veteran hiring streams.

   
   

3. Improve mentoring and retention — the FAA is refining new-hire mentorship and on-the-job training pathways to reduce the washout rate and retain talent through the toughest parts of the training curve.

   
   

4. Workforce analytics — better forecasting of retirements and location-specific shortages to target recruiting where it’s needed most.

These measures are necessary because hiring alone isn’t enough: controllers require months — and for many positions, years — of structured training, simulator work and supervised operations before they’re certified.

The real-world impact on airports, airlines and passengers

A well-staffed air traffic control system matters. When centers or towers run short of controllers, airports face staffing limits, higher overtime, and in some cases, flight caps or operational restrictions to keep traffic safe. Overwork for controllers raises safety concerns and increases fatigue — something both airlines and regulators aim to avoid. The FAA believes that adding thousands of controllers will improve operational resilience, reduce delays and lessen the reliance on costly overtime.

Industry groups warn that while the hiring targets are positive, they will not instantly repair disruptions. Certification timelines and training bottlenecks mean the effects will materialize over several years; passengers may notice gradual improvements rather than immediate relief.

Obstacles and political headwinds

Even with bipartisan support for stronger aviation staffing, the FAA’s plan faces challenges:

• Funding uncertainty — periods of government funding lapses can stall hiring or training programs. In a shutdown scenario, for example, FAA training and hiring activity could be curtailed, slowing progress. Recent reporting has highlighted how shutdown risks could interrupt controller training and cost the broader economy.

  
  

• Training capacity limits — expanding the FAA Academy and field training capacity takes time and resources.

  
  

• Retention challenges — higher pay, better work-life balance and improved mental-health support are all part of retaining controllers; meeting those needs can be costly and politically sensitive.

  
  

• Local impacts — some smaller facilities may still face chronic shortages if targeted recruitment isn’t effective.

Congressional oversight and appropriations will be vital. Lawmakers can accelerate or constrain aspects of the plan through budget decisions and legislative change.

Industry and labor reaction

Unions and professional associations have reacted cautiously: welcoming the recruitment commitments, while noting that the FAA must also invest in training quality and working conditions to keep people in the job. Some experts argue for broader pipeline reforms — for example, allowing accredited university programs to grant partial credit toward FAA training prerequisites, which could inject better-prepared candidates into the system more quickly.

Airlines and airport operators support the hiring drive. Reduced controller shortages can translate into fewer delays and lower operational costs — benefits that ripple through to passengers, freight shippers, and local economies around major hubs.

What to expect in the coming months

• More aggressive recruiting at career fairs, veterans’ events and university programs.

  
  

• Higher training intakes at the FAA Academy and incremental increases in field-training slots.

  
  

• Ongoing audits and adjustments to the workforce plan as retirements and attrition numbers clarify.

  
  

• Legislative moves to protect funding for FAA workforce initiatives and to expand training partnerships.

For travelers, this means the next two to three years will be a transition period. Incremental improvements in staffing and on-time performance are likely to appear, but full normalization depends on the FAA’s ability to convert hires into certified controllers at scale.