Trump plans to surge air traffic controller hiring following plane accidents

Updated: 12:40 p.m., March 7 

The Trump administration on Thursday launched an initiative to increase the number of air traffic controllers after several high-profile plane accidents. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced during a visit to the Federal Aviation Administration's academy at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City that candidates will receive a 30% increase on their salaries while training at the academy ($17.61/hour to $22.61/hour) and that the FAA will reduce its eight-step hiring process to five steps. Duffy predicted this would cut four months off such a process.

“This staffing shortage has been a known challenge for over a decade, and this administration is committed to solving it,” Duffy said in a statement. “The new streamlined hiring process is just the first step to deliver on President Trump’s agenda to prioritize the American people’s safety and modernize the federal government.” 

Duffy also said the air traffic controller hiring window would be open from Thursday until March 17 and that candidates who receive the highest score on the skills assessment test would be given priority for the academy. 

Former President Joe Biden in 2024 signed into law a FAA reauthorization bill that requires the agency to hire to the maximum level possible at the training academy for the next five years and expands the center’s capacity, among other recruitment and retention provisions. 

FAA exceeded its air traffic controller hiring goal in fiscal 2024, bringing on 1,811 new employees. 

Centibillionaire Elon Musk, who is spearheading the Trump administration’s cost-cutting effort, on Thursday posted on his social media platform X that “there is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers” and urged retired ones to consider returning to work. 

In 2023, an outside panel that was established following a series of plane incidents found that understaffing and an overreliance on overtime at FAA were creating a less safe national airspace. In particular, the National Airspace System Safety Review Team reported that overtime use was at an all-time high, leading to more absenteeism, lower productivity and increased fatigue. 

A recent New York Times analysis found that more than 90% of U.S. air traffic control facilities are operating below FAA-recommended staffing levels. 

As part of the mass firing of probationary employees, FAA removed between 200 to 300 workers, including maintenance mechanics, aeronautical information specialists, environmental protection specialists, aviation safety assistants and management and program assistants.

Former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down ahead of the end of his five-year term when Trump took office. The president has not nominated a permanent replacement.

Editor's note: An earlier version of the story attributed the 30% raise to academy graduates. The increase applies to candidates enrolling at the academy.