FAA Plans 6,900 Controller Hires Through 2028 as Staffing Target Reaches 12,563

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 15

2,200 new controllers are slated for fiscal 2026 under an FAA overhaul that would add 6,900 hires by 2028 and pair recruiting with scheduling, training and infrastructure changes.
12,563 certified professional controllers is the agency’s staffing target, versus roughly 11,000 deployed in April 2026; another 4,000 are in training, but full certification can take more than two years.
FY 2023-FY 2025 overtime levels far exceeded reasonable use, the plan said, linking chronic extra hours to fatigue, burnout and retention losses while local managers still handle scheduling and timekeeping manually.
More than $6 billion of $12.5 billion in Trump-backed funding has already been committed as the FAA pushes to replace analog systems—including some still using floppy disks—with digital networks, simulators and AI tools.
2,028 trainees were hired in fiscal 2025—the most since 2008—but 1,460 workers still left the pipeline or workforce, underscoring why shortages and safety pressure are expected to persist as travel demand rises.

As global aviation grows, will the FAA’s plan be enough to maintain U.S. leadership in air safety?

How will AI and automation help overworked controllers without introducing new operational risks?

After a leader's ethics probe, how will the FAA ensure transparent spending of its $6B+ modernization fund?