Updated · Federal Aviation Administration · May 15
FAA Targets 12,563 Controllers by 2028, Hiring 2,200 This Year
Updated
Updated · Federal Aviation Administration · May 15
FAA Targets 12,563 Controllers by 2028, Hiring 2,200 This Year
9 articles · Updated · Federal Aviation Administration · May 15
12,563 certified professional controllers is the FAA’s new full-staffing target, with the agency saying its 2026 workforce plan will close chronic shortages and support future air traffic demand.
2,200, 2,300 and 2,400 hires are planned for fiscal 2026 through 2028, and the FAA said it is already 60% toward this year’s goal while drawing from a pipeline of about 4,000 trainees.
11,000 CPCs are currently deployed across more than 300 facilities, but new hires can take more than two years to certify, pushing the FAA to expand college training partnerships and speed assignments to high-need sites.
A new staffing model, automated scheduling tools and wider simulator use are meant to cut excessive overtime and burnout; the FAA says simulator-based training can reduce training time by up to 27%.
The plan also reflects a lower staffing goal than the prior 14,633 target, after a National Academies review found workforce allocation and scheduling inefficiencies rather than only headcount shortfalls.
Is the FAA's staffing crisis just a numbers problem, or does America's entire air traffic system need a radical structural overhaul?
The FAA is cutting controller targets while betting on AI. Will this tech overhaul fix air travel or repeat past costly failures?