For over a decade, the U.S. has been facing a persistent and growing shortage of air traffic controllers. The problem has ballooned into a full-blown crisis, straining airport operations, triggering flight delays, and testing the limits of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) training pipeline.
Despite efforts to address it, the gap between the number of certified controllers and the number required to safely manage America’s airspace keeps widening.
As of early 2025, only about 10,800 certified professional controllers are actively working, far below the 14,600 needed to keep air traffic flowing smoothly and safely. Nearly 280 of the country’s 300 air traffic control facilities are now operating below proper staffing levels. Even minor disruptions like a government shutdown can bring controller training to a standstill and further delay the pipeline.
And that pipeline is fragile. When the federal government shutters—even briefly—students at the FAA’s Oklahoma City training academy are sent home. This happened in 2013 and again during later political impasses. Add the pandemic to the mix, and controller hiring practically froze for two years. FAA officials estimate they need to hire at least 3,000 new controllers just to bring staffing up to sustainable levels.
The effects of the shortage are already showing. In New York, one of the most congested airspaces in the country, the FAA has been forced to cap the number of flights. United Airlines claims that delays occur daily, regardless of weather, because there simply aren’t enough controllers on duty. In fact, the airline says 68% of its 2024 delays on clear-weather days were due to ATC staffing limitations.
Fatigue is also a growing concern. Testimony before Congress revealed that some controllers have been working six days a week, 10 hours a day, for years on end. Larger airports bear the brunt of the staffing crisis, with some airlines now diverting routes to smaller airports just to cope.
While the U.S. has the most acute shortage, it’s far from alone. Europe is short roughly 700 to 1,000 controllers. Canada’s NAV CANADA has struggled to hire, and even Australia is seeing staffing shortfalls that are delaying flights. But no other country faces the same combination of bottlenecks and regulatory constraints as the U.S.
Is hiring too selective?
One of the biggest issues is not attracting interest but converting that interest into qualified hires. The FAA’s hiring process is notoriously selective. Only about 10% of applicants make it through the initial screening, and even fewer complete the multi-year training process.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens under the age of 31. They must pass strict medical and security clearances and demonstrate near-perfect vision. Bifocal contacts aren’t allowed, and colorblind applicants are automatically disqualified. Add in academic or work requirements, and most hopefuls are screened out before they ever step into a simulator.
Even once someone is hired, it can take two to three years before they’re certified to work independently. And just as the FAA is strict on who gets in, it’s equally strict on when they must leave: mandatory retirement hits at age 56, even though many federal employees work until at least 65. While the FAA allows rare waivers up to age 60, the majority of controllers are forced out early, even if they’re still sharp and healthy.
The rationale is that controllers must maintain peak cognitive and physical performance, and the FAA argues that the early retirement is a safety measure. On the plus side, ATC pensions are generous: controllers can retire at age 50 with 20 years of service, or at any age with 25 years in. But the flip side is that this creates a steady outflow of talent that the FAA has been unable to replace fast enough.
To turn the tide, the Transportation Department has announced a plan to boost starting salaries by 30% and streamline the hiring timeline. The FAA has also launched its Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI), allowing a handful of approved colleges to deliver equivalent training programs outside the federal academy.
Still, the challenges remain steep. Controller work is grueling, mentally taxing, and increasingly overloaded. About 41% of current controllers are logging 60-hour weeks. That pressure drives burnout and attrition, just as the system needs experience more than ever.
Meanwhile, political decisions are stirring new fears. The recently formed Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) has implemented sweeping federal workforce cuts. Though air traffic controllers haven’t been laid off, around 400 FAA staffers lost their jobs in early 2025, raising alarms about support systems critical to safety and training. A key FAA report even briefly disappeared from the agency’s website before being recovered via an internet archive.
DOGE has called for retired controllers to return to duty, but that’s a long shot given the legal retirement cap. And critics note that DOGE, despite its influence, lacks any real aviation expertise.
There are some signs of hope. FAA trainees in Oklahoma recently received a $5-per-hour raise, signaling a willingness to invest in the future workforce. But with skies only getting busier and new technologies like 5G and urban air mobility on the horizon, the need for more qualified controllers has never been more urgent.
Unless hiring accelerates and structural reforms are made, travelers can expect more delays, more cancellations, and more pressure on the few controllers keeping the system afloat.