FAA cuts certified-controller target to 12,563

The Federal Aviation Administration cut the staffing target it says represents a fully staffed air traffic control system, setting a new goal of 12,563 certified professional controllers in a workforce plan released May 15. The previous benchmark widely cited in FAA planning and labor debates was 14,633, the 2024 Collaborative Resource Working Group target. The change lands just before the peak U.S. summer travel period, when controller shortages have already been tied to overtime, traffic restrictions and delays at major facilities. The FAA said the lower target reflects forecast demand and a revised staffing model, not an end to hiring. ### Where did the 12,563 number come from? The FAA said May 15 that the 12,563 figure is its new “full staffing target” for certified professional controllers, or CPCs, based on forecast demand. In its newsroom release, the agency said the number was derived from findings by the National Academies of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board, which reviewed FAA staffing models and methodologies. The 14,633 figure came from the Collaborative Resource Working Group, or CRWG, a facility-level model developed by FAA’s Air Traffic Organization and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The FAA’s 2024 workforce plan listed 14,633 as the 2024 CRWG target, while the National Academies’ 2025 report described the CRWG model as generally producing higher targets than the FAA finance office model. (faa.gov) ### Is the FAA saying it needs fewer controllers now? The FAA said the new plan is built on three pillars: hiring more controllers, improving staffing efficiency and modernizing the national airspace system. The agency said “deploying modern staffing models and scheduling tools” should reduce excessive overtime and increase the time controllers spend actively managing traffic. (faa.gov) A National Academies report released in 2025 gave the backdrop for that argument. The report said overtime costs had risen by more than 300% since 2013 to more than $200 million, and said controller time spent “on position” had fallen even as traffic increased. Reuters, in a report carried by CNBC, said the FAA workforce logged 2.2 million overtime hours in 2024 at a cost of about $200 million. (faa.gov) ### How short of the new target is the system today? As of April 2026, the FAA said about 11,000 certified professional controllers were deployed across more than 300 air traffic facilities. The agency also said about 4,000 controllers were in the training pipeline, including about 1,000 who had previously been fully certified at another facility and were retraining after reassignment. (cnbc.com) Training time remains a constraint. The FAA said it can take more than two years to fully certify a new-hire controller, depending on a facility’s complexity level. That means the agency can raise hiring targets quickly, but certified staffing rises more slowly. ### Why does the older 14,633 target still matter? (faa.gov) The 2024 workforce plan used the CRWG benchmark as a prominent national reference point, and controller advocates have long argued that it better reflects operational need at individual facilities. The National Academies said the CRWG and FAA finance models both estimate staffing for the same 313 facilities but use different assumptions and generally produce different totals. (faa.gov) The National Academies also said understaffing at major facilities has systemwide consequences. Its report said 19 of the largest air traffic facilities were more than 15% below staffing targets, and those facilities account for about 40% of system delays. The report said FAA can restrict flights to match available staffing when facilities are short, which can cause delays to spread on busy days. (faa.gov) ### What is the FAA planning to do next? The FAA set hiring goals of 2,200 new controllers in fiscal 2026, 2,300 in fiscal 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal 2028. The agency said it also plans to expand collegiate training partnerships, improve academy completion rates and assign graduates more directly to facilities with the greatest staffing needs. (nap.nationalacademies.org) May 15 is now the key date in the record: that is when the FAA published its 2026-2028 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan and publicly tied the 12,563 target to its next three years of hiring and scheduling changes. (faa.gov 1) (faa.gov 2)