FAA slashes air traffic controller hiring target

The Federal Aviation Administration said on May 15 that it is lowering the number of certified air traffic controllers it says it needs to fully staff the national system, cutting the target to 12,563 from 14,633. The agency released the change in its 2026-2028 air traffic controller workforce plan and said the lower target reflects a new staffing model, scheduling changes and modernization efforts rather than a retreat from safety goals. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the plan is intended to “erase the longstanding staffing shortage” and support long-term safety and operational efficiency in the National Airspace System. The move comes as the agency continues to acknowledge controller shortages, overtime and a training pipeline that can take more than two years to produce fully certified controllers. ### How far did the FAA cut the target? The FAA said its new full staffing target is 12,563 Certified Professional Controllers, down from 14,633 in the prior benchmark. Reuters and Bloomberg both reported the reduction on May 15, describing it as a cut of roughly 2,000 controllers from the previous target. The May 15 FAA release said the target is “based on forecast demand” and on findings from a National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board review of the agency’s staffing models and methodologies. (faa.gov) The agency said newer staffing models and scheduling tools should improve controller efficiency and reduce excessive overtime. ### Why does the FAA say it can operate with fewer controllers? Bryan Bedford said in the FAA release that the agency is “changing how we hire, train and schedule” controllers and providing “state-of-the-art tools” to support them. The FAA said the plan rests on three pillars: expanding hiring, optimizing controller efficiency and modernizing the air traffic system. (faa.gov) Reuters reported that a National Academies report last year said overtime costs for controllers had risen by more than 300% since 2013 to more than $200 million, while the time controllers spend actively managing traffic had declined even as traffic increased. That report, as cited by Reuters, said better workforce allocation and more efficient scheduling could lift time on position from about four hours per shift to more than five hours. (faa.gov) ### What does the FAA say about the current shortage? As of April 2026, the FAA said about 11,000 certified professional controllers were deployed across more than 300 FAA air traffic facilities. The agency also said about 4,000 controllers are in the training pipeline, including roughly 1,000 who were previously fully certified at one facility and are now training at another. (usnews.com) The FAA said it can take more than two years to fully certify a new controller, depending on the complexity of the assigned facility. Reuters reported that the agency acknowledged shortages and mandatory overtime have affected operations as it tries to rebuild staffing. ### What changed from the FAA’s earlier hiring push? (faa.gov) On April 10, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said the FAA would open its annual controller hiring window on April 17 as part of a campaign to recruit a new generation of controllers. That announcement said the agency had almost 11,000 controllers in service, more than 4,000 trainees in the pipeline and had onboarded 2,400 controllers since the previous March. (faa.gov) The new workforce plan still calls for large annual hiring totals. The FAA said it aims to achieve or exceed hiring targets of 2,200, 2,300 and 2,400 new controllers in fiscal 2026, 2027 and 2028, respectively, and said it is already 60% toward meeting this year’s goal. ### What happens next in the FAA plan? The 2026-2028 workforce plan says the FAA will expand partnerships with colleges, universities and technical schools through its Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative and Enhanced AT-CTI programs. (faa.gov) The agency also said it will work to place academy graduates at facilities with the greatest staffing need and focus training on candidates most likely to succeed at more complex locations. (faa.gov) Fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028 are the next milestones in the plan, with hiring targets set at 2,300 and 2,400 controllers. The FAA said those goals, along with scheduling and modernization changes, are the framework it will use to measure progress over the next three years. (faa.gov)