Trump Administration Says Campaign Targeting Video Gamers To Become Air Traffic Controllers Is Leading to Record Sign-ups

The transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, says a new recruitment push targeting video gamers is leading to a record number of applications to become air traffic controllers.Mr. Duffy announced a week ago that the Federal Aviation Administration would open a new recruiting hiring window at midnight on April 17. He said the agency needed to adapt in its recruiting to reach the next generation of air traffic controllers so it focused a recruitment campaign to reach gamers. A promotional video titled “It’s not a Game. It’s a Career” showed video gamers transitioning into air traffic controller roles.Mr. Duffy says that more than 8,000 people signed up in the first 13 hours of the new hiring effort and said that 7,252 of the applicants are qualified to train for the job. The FAA says gamers are good at multitasking, spatial awareness, and strategy and problem-solving. It also cited the high cognitive functions successful gamers demonstrate and a positive attribute for the controller jobs.Only about 25 percent of current controllers have a college degree, and the goal of the campaign is to focus on reaching “talented young people pursuing alternative career paths, many of whom are active in gaming.”The FAA has struggled to recruit enough controllers for years and a wave of retirements during the covid pandemic made the problem worse. Only two percent of the nation’s airports were fully staffed last year.The jobs are stressful and starting pay can be low for big cities, although it can reach six-figures within three years. Two recent government shutdowns forced workers to continue working without paychecks. That caused a severe strain on air travel as controllers started quitting or calling out sick as the shutdown stretched longer than a month.The FAA reports having nearly 11,000 controllers at the end of fiscal year 2024 but estimates that it will lose nearly 7,000 controllers over the next few years due to retirements and other reasons. It hired 1,811 controllers last year and more than 4,000 people are in the training program.“This has been wildly successful,” Mr. Duffy said at an event Friday in Washington. “If you think just what these gamers are doing on screens and they’re talking and there’s lots of things going on — they’re used to that and that’s actually what you’re doing in a tower, in a facility, and so they become well-suited.”Part of the effort to build up the workforce has been to shorten the hiring process. This year’s applicants can expect to start their career faster with the FAA moving applicants into its Air Traffic Controller Academy at Oklahoma City about five months faster than during previous recruiting periods. “Safety is the FAA’s top priority, and that starts with hiring top talent and equipping them with world-class tools,” the FAA administrator, Bryan Bedford, said. “We need the best people, the best training, and the best tools because we expect the best results.”The Trump administration previously created a federal collegiate training program in which the aviation administration has partnered with five schools to provide enhanced training for recruits right out of college.The participating schools, which include the University of Oklahoma and the Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in New York, offer an enhanced training program with air traffic control training that is equivalent to programs at the FAA Academy.Mr. Duffy also raised the required retirement age for air traffic controllers to 61 from 56 if they apply for a waiver.

Trump Administration Says Campaign Targeting Video Gamers To Become Air Traffic Controllers Is Leading to Record Sign-ups

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