Global Air Traffic Controller Shortage Drives Cross-Border Recruitment, Raising Safety and Disruption Concerns
Why It MattersController poaching between national providers shifts rather than solves the shortage, leaving every market exposed to the same staffing-driven delays that business aviation, with less schedule flexibility, absorbs quickly.
A global shortage of air traffic controllers is fueling cross-border recruitment of experienced staff, exposing staffing gaps that are raising concerns about air safety and travel disruption, aviation officials say. Countries from Australia to Canada and South Africa are competing for experienced controllers, with some turning to foreigners to fill vacancies even as their own staff are recruited elsewhere. A 2025 forecast from aviation training firm CAE says 71,000 new air traffic controllers will be needed globally by 2034.
Two people with knowledge of the matter said some controllers employed by Airservices Australia were moving to Qatar, which has recently advertised for staff. Scott Nugent, president of the union Civil Air Australia, said the union is aware of dozens of controllers across multiple Australian locations, including some in Sydney, who have resigned to work overseas or are exploring it. Most departing controllers were seeking better conditions on fatigue, leave, overtime and staffing, one of the people said. Airservices Australia said its national attrition rate for controllers was within expectations.
Canada, which normally hires only citizens or permanent residents as controllers, has also looked overseas. NAV CANADA said it recently used an external firm as part of a limited, targeted measure to recruit eight foreign controllers willing to immigrate to Canada. Nick von Schoenberg, president of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, said his union does not usually favor foreign hiring as a solution but is not objecting to the plan given the severity of current circumstances.
South Africa's Air Traffic and Navigation Services limits the number of staff it seeks from individual countries after losing 28 controllers within eight months between 2024 and last year, chief operating officer Josia Manyakoana said. New Zealand's agency said air navigation service providers should collectively tackle shortages rather than simply shifting the problem between organizations. The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), a global trade group for air traffic control providers, is examining ways to share training costs between controllers' current employers and the organizations hiring them.
