FAA Improves Monitoring, but ATC Tower Staffing Lags

The FAA restructured its federal contract tower (FCT) program and expanded controller training initiatives, but the program remained understaffed by 276 controllers, or roughly 18%, as of last April, according to a recent Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG) audit. The report examines the agency’s actions to improve monitoring of air traffic controller staffing levels and evaluated training requirements affecting staffing.

Three recommendations were made: develop a process to validate hours worked and recover overpayments; evaluate the impact of training and retention initiatives on the FCT hiring pool and implement improvements; and collaborate with contractors and stakeholders to explore alternative approaches to expand the controller hiring pool.

The FCT program includes 266 contract towers staffed by more than 1,500 controllers in 46 states and territories. Contract towers represent 50% of air traffic control towers in the National Airspace System (NAS) and handled more than 18 million tower operations, 30% of the total, in 2024, according to the report.

In June 2024, the FAA reorganized the FCT program, transferring oversight from air traffic services to its program management organization and establishing a new leadership team to improve management and hold contractors accountable. The agency updated contractual requirements to measure staffing performance at individual towers rather than aggregating all towers under a contract, and established price adjustments for towers operating below 95% of full performance levels and for ATC-zero events exceeding 59 minutes.

“ATC-zero is an official term FAA uses when an air traffic control facility is unable to provide its published ATC services. ATC-Zero events result from multiple factors, including equipment failures, power, and staffing,” according to the report.

Between February and May 2025, DOT-OIG identified 334 ATC-zero events due to staffing, with 269 events (81% of those) exceeding the threshold and subject to price adjustments totaling about $175,000 among four contractors.

The FAA developed new processes for tracking staffing levels, created a centralized repository for monthly area facility reports, and established quarterly program reviews with contractors. However, the audit found that the agency “still faces challenges validating controller staffing data provided by contractors” and has not resumed conducting timesheet audits.

To expand the controller hiring pool, the FAA announced the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) in February 2024, which allows graduates from 11 approved colleges and universities to bypass introductory training at the FAA Academy, saving 80 days of training time. In July 2025, the FAA also authorized contractors to hire graduates from FAA-approved control tower operator partnership schools.

Despite these initiatives, as of July all four FCT contractors stated that they had not hired a single Enhanced AT-CTI graduate. “One of the contractors highlighted that the Enhanced AT-CTI graduates they contacted were not interested in FCT employment and preferred to pursue hiring opportunities with FAA,” the audit stated.

Controller attrition to the FAA and the Department of Defense continues to impact staffing. According to one contractor, 35% of its controllers departed in calendar year 2024 to accept positions with FAA or DOD, making this “the primary cause of controller attrition.”

The 2024 contract award also required 72 contract towers—more than 25%—to transition to different contractors, compared to five tower transitions in the 2015 award. Additionally, the FAA increased the minimum staffing requirement from four full-time equivalent controllers (including the air traffic manager) to four FTE controllers, not including the ATM, requiring contractors to hire an additional 129 controllers.

The FAA concurred with all three recommendations and plans to complete actions by Jan. 31, 2027. Section 605 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 mandated the audit.