FAA Hires Record 2,235 Controller Trainees, Still 1,536 Below Staffing Target
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 1
FAA Hires Record 2,235 Controller Trainees, Still 1,536 Below Staffing Target
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 1
Summary
2,235 air traffic controller trainees were hired in fiscal 2026, beating the FAA’s 2,200 goal by 35 and setting an agency record.
11,027 certified professional controllers were on staff as of Sept. 30, up 333 from a year earlier, but the FAA remains 1,536 short of its 12,563-controller target.
More than five months were cut from the hiring pipeline, nearly 400 retirement-eligible controllers were retained with bonuses, and some college-program graduates can now skip the FAA Academy.
$12.5 billion in planned upgrades to more than 600 radar systems and other air traffic control equipment underpins the hiring push as the FAA tries to reverse years of chronic understaffing.
The record year is the first step in a three-year plan that targets 2,300 trainee hires in fiscal 2027 and 2,400 in 2028.
With the FAA still thousands of controllers short of historical targets, will record hiring actually prevent your next major flight delay?
As AI systems begin predicting airspace bottlenecks, could this massive technological upgrade eventually phase out human air traffic controllers entirely?