FAA Sets All-Time Record for Air Traffic Controller Hiring, Bringing On 2,235 Trainees in Fiscal Year 2026

The Federal Aviation Administration hired 2,235 air traffic controller trainees in fiscal year 2026, surpassing its own goal of 2,200 and marking the highest number hired in a single fiscal year in FAA history, the Department of Transportation announced. The agency also reached its highest certified controller staffing level in a decade, with the number of certified professional controllers rising from 10,694 at the end of fiscal year 2025 to 11,027 as of September 30, 2026, a net increase of 333.

The FAA's workforce plan identifies 12,563 certified professional controllers as the staffing target needed to meet forecast demand, leaving the agency 1,536 short as it enters fiscal year 2027. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy credited the gains to reforms including a streamlined hiring pipeline, expanded collegiate training programs, and outreach to candidates with gaming skills, saying changes to the hiring process had reduced the time to bring on new recruits by more than five months.

The record follows fiscal year 2025, when the FAA hired 2,028 controller trainees, its highest total since 2008. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford had warned Congress last December that the agency would "never" reach adequate staffing under its previous structure, testifying that "the system is designed to be chronically understaffed." The FAA's 2026–2028 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, released in May, calls for hiring 2,300 trainees in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028. Roughly 4,000 controllers were in the training pipeline at the time of the May plan, including approximately 1,000 previously certified controllers training at new facilities. Nearly 400 retirement-eligible controllers were retained through a new bonus structure, and the FAA has expanded its Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative to let qualified graduates bypass the FAA Academy and proceed directly to on-the-job training at facilities.

The hiring push is part of a broader overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system backed by $12.5 billion in funding for upgrades including telecommunications infrastructure, new radios and radars, and electronic flight strips. The administration is also investing in a $5 billion plan to replace more than 600 outdated radar systems and is exploring artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to manage air traffic demand.

A single record hiring year does not close a staffing gap built up over many years, because becoming a fully certified controller can take more than two years depending on facility complexity. That lag means the pipeline of roughly 4,000 trainees cited in the May workforce plan, including about 1,000 already-certified controllers retraining at new facilities, will convert into certified staff gradually rather than all at once.

The gap also shows how controller staffing targets move along with forecast demand: the 12,563 figure is itself a planning number that can shift as traffic grows, so hitting a hiring goal in one year does not guarantee the shortfall narrows at the same pace. Retention tools such as the bonus structure that kept nearly 400 retirement-eligible controllers on the job matter as much as new hiring, since departures offset gains on the other side of the ledger.

The next dated markers are the FAA's own targets of 2,300 trainees in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028, against which this year's 2,235 figure will be judged. Whether the $12.5 billion infrastructure program and the $5 billion radar replacement plan deliver the facilities and equipment needed to support a larger certified workforce will shape how quickly the 1,536-controller gap closes.