Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced on Thursday that 2,000 new air traffic controllers will be hired this year, as the administration works to address a national air traffic controller shortage.
“We have a historic number this year of 2,000 controllers [that] are going to be hired, and we’re going to expand it next year,” Duffy said on Fox Business’s Varney & Co. “But it’s about a four-month academy, but once you graduate from the academy, you have to be trained up in your air space, so we are all hands on deck.”
The most recent Federal Aviation Administration Controller Workforce Plan showed the agency is experiencing a shortage of 3,000 controllers.
The FAA anticipates hiring at least 8,900 new air traffic controllers through 2028, according to the recent workforce plan.
The Trump administration has been working to hire more controllers by adding schools to the Enhanced Air Traffic – Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI), a partnership between the FAA and colleges that train students with an education equivalent to what they would get at the FAA Air Traffic Control Academy in Oklahoma City.
Once students graduate from an approved Enhanced AT-CTI program, they can immediately apply for positions and begin localized training at an air traffic control facility.
