The FAA has reached its goal of hiring 2,000 air traffic controllers in fiscal year 2025, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced today. In fact, the agency has brought in 2,026 controllers since January, a 20% boost over the first nine months of 2024 and the result of a “supercharged” effort announced in February aimed at expediting hiring.
Under this initiative, the FAA has streamlined the air traffic controller hiring process, cutting down the time it takes by as much as five months. The agency is on pace to hire at least 8,900 controllers through 2028, including at least 2,200 in FY2026, the Department of Transportation said.
According to the agency, the goal is to fill every seat at the FAA Academy, where controllers are trained. Six hundred trainees were sent there in August alone, exceeding the record in July of 550. This marks the highest number of students in FAA history.
“These latest numbers show our supercharge effort is continuing to hit milestones, and we are making progress,” Duffy said. “Our work is just getting started. This department will continue to use every tool at our disposal to chip away at decades of controller staffing declines because the American people are counting on us.”