America desperately needs more air traffic controllers

Everyone is going to make this about money or unions or etc, but my employer briefly worked with some ATC employee groups and I can tell you exactly why they are short staffed:

- The FAA has strict hiring requirements. You have to be mentally and physically capable, and by their own admission less than 10% of applicants are qualified for the job. https://www.faa.gov/air-traffic-controller-qualifications

- The training and onboarding process is incredibly long, and turnover is high

- The fundamentals and technology of the job have not changed in decades, despite air traffic exploding in recent years

- Most people are just not capable of the amount of stress and risk associated with the job

- Seriously, it's a really freaking stressful job

I would argue an ATC employee is worth every penny, but I also don't think there is a magical amount of money where you are going to suddenly double your pool of candidates willing to do this kind of work. These people are already very well compensated, and at a certain point you are just going to be cannibalizing other talent pools.

The real need is new and modern technology that automates much of the mistake-prone, human-centric tasks. But nobody wants to risk introducing changes to such a fragile system.

"US ATC System Under Scrutiny" "Fatal crash brings attention to shortage" "There are simply not enough air traffic controllers to keep aircraft a safe distance from one another."

Like, perhaps there is merit in arguing for more controllers or more pay for controllers, and perhaps that would lead to a safer airspace, but the attempts to implicitly tie the fatal crash to ATC in this case seems pretty poor form, here. What we know from the ATC transcripts[1] already tells us that ATC was aware the helicopter & the plane would be near each other well in advance of the crash; ATC informed the helo, the helo responded that he had the aircraft in sight. Time passed, the ATC gets a proximity warning (labelled as "[Conflict Alert Warning]" in VASAviation's video), ATC immediately acts on it, again reaching out to the helo, the helo again confirms they have the aircraft in sight, and moments later we can hear on the ATC transcripts the crash occur as people in the room witness it and react in horror.

To my armchair commenting self, the ATC controllers seem to be exonerated by the transcript, and I'm going to otherwise wait until an NTSB report tells me why I'm wrong to break out the pitch forks on them.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3gD_lnBNu0

There's a lawsuit going on:

>FAA embroiled in lawsuit alleging it turned away 1,000 applicants based on race — that contributed to staffing woes https://nypost.com/2025/01/31/us-news/faa-embroiled-in-lawsu...

The guy behind it is quite interesting. Got 100% on his exams but told they were only hiring 'diverse' folk https://archive.ph/ixmFB

Seems like a colossal error to have asked them all to quit.

I wonder -- if half of the air traffic controllers took the offer to leave their jobs, do we have a Plan B? The deadline they have been given to decide is Thursday; I have not seen any communication as to whether ATC (and TSA, etc.) will be operational Friday.

The first problem is that everybody who wants to do the job needs to go through the FAA academy in Oklahoma, which is seriously limited by physical & instructor capacity. So only a couple thousand people a year can work their way through there, no matter how many are willing to do the job.

So first we need more training capacity, and they already have trouble hiring and retaining instructors. This is a more direct place you can throw more money at now.

A start would be moving some of the primary training to the control centers. There's more than one of them, spread around the country, and they already have their own significant training departments.

A significant fraction of people who get into the academy end up not making the cut. Then another good fraction "wash out" during extensive training for the specific airport/center they end up in.

It's a very difficult job and nothing they've tried before is very good at predicting who's going to be successful at it quickly/cheaply.

If you live in the Bay Area on the Peninsula, you'll be excited to know that the San Carlos airport and the FAA are in a pissing match over their air traffic controllers' pay, threatening to un-staff the control tower and leave that very busy airspace without tower control. The tower was set to go dark on Feb 1st[1] but it looks like there is now a temporary extension[2] keeping it staffed. Why these guys need to play a game of chicken when lives are at stake, I have no idea.

1: https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/bay-area-airport-losing-...

2: https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/san-carlos-airport-reach...

It should be noted that the FAA is facing a lawsuit alleging it discriminated against capable candidates[1]. If this is true, this surely must factor into the shortage of air traffic controllers.

Admittedly, its a big if, and second even if it is true it is not clear to me how much of a factor this is in the shortage.

[1] https://mslegal.org/cases/brigida-v-faa/

Today, hacker news solves air traffic control with either:

a) More money

b) Video game technology

To truly get this problem, you really need to be in it. Either as a pilot or as a controller.

Watching threads like this reminds me that I have expertise within a couple of specialized domains and that’s it. Beyond those, I’m a tourist.

We have planes moving hundreds of miles an hour being managed exclusively by audio channels.

Does this not blow anyone else's minds? This seems like a clear case of 'because we've always done it that way'. There's no way if a system was being developed today they'd say to hell with screens, lets just give them instructions over audio and assume they'll follow them to a T if acknowledged.

Is this a US ONLY problem? I'm not trying to start a flame war, I'm genuinely wondering for example: European air travel doesn't seem any less safe than the US so whatever they are doing seems to work just as well. Do they have trouble hiring and keeping ATCs? Is their comp/work life/training/etc very different than ours? Would appreciate any insight from folks that know.

My dad was an air traffic controller until the mid 10's and this has been a problem easily since like 2005.

They struggled to recruit people who could do the job at all, and when people got into the building to be trained (after an initial training) most of them would quit because they couldn't do it.

You can take the biographical assessment that rejected scores of applicants because reasons like they did well in Science in High School: https://kaisoapbox.com/projects/faa_biographical_assessment/

Too bad that we have some 2,000+ already-qualified FAA ATC of certain persuasion that are "just sitting" around waiting for their stress-free class-action money in the Brigida vs FAA 2015 reverse discrimination lawsuit.

Think they'll now work as ATC after they win?

Doesn't help to tie up 900+ more potential qualified ATC (again of certain persuadion) when FAA tried reverse discrimination AGAIN in 2021 in Brigida vs Buttigieg lawsuit.

Will they ever learn?

Source

https://www.tracingwoodgrains.com/p/the-full-story-of-the-fa...

https://casetext.com/case/brigida-v-buttigieg-1

The kind of person who can do ATC can make much more in tech and have a much better lifestyle.

Market problem requires a market solution.

I realize it's not a complete or immediate solution, but I wonder how much buses and trains would help. I think about this, in a town with a regional airport, ~ 100 miles from a couple of "hub" airports. Flying to the hub is often slower than driving when all things are considered, and with the risk of delays. A bus or train could work a lot better if the locations of the stations were coordinated, and if there was a coordinated system for handling baggage. And, if the ticketing were consolidated. The bus is never delayed by weather.

The Netherlands has a shortage too. But they just cancel flights or even entire airports if they are understaffed.

As an employee it is your duty to refuse orders that potentially risk lives.

As part of my student pilot training, our class was taken to the air traffic tower, to meat and see the air traffic controllers at work and build some trust as in many emergency situations fir a pilot, its ATC who can save your sorry lost ass. There were a bunch of them working,handling local and international flights,multi screen work stations. One guy stood out, he was directing several flights during the landing phase, while talking to us, then it became clear that he was also directing planes on the ground, a collegue of his came up to confer, he started telling us a joke, but of couse had to pause here and there while he attended to these other trifles but his timing was so impecable, that the joke was still funny. So thats who you want, and you cant train THAT, whatever it is, but perhapps can identify and foster those that have...IT. The controll tower itself is strait out of a sci fi movie, with a glass walkway ,the only way in, to find a completely blank stainless wall, that then opens to reveal a completly blank elevator

Fellas, I got a question.

Is it really safe to fly these days if this is now a national discussion?

THE PAY SUCKS...

Head over to https://www.reddit.com/r/ATC/ and have a look.

Entry level ATC salaries are about $50,000 (~$23 an hour).

And you do not get to "choose" where you land on your first assignment.

Try living on $23 an hour in a HCOL area.

To those who know more about ATC: is there any hope of automation?

Just waiting for this atc thing to become overly politicized like every other aspect of life in America. I swear over politicization and polarization is going to strangle this country and destroy it if it hasn’t already.

RE ".... America desperately needs more air traffic controllers ....." or THE TRAFFIC at some airports NEEDS TO BE LIMITED to SAFER levels ....

I'm looking at the recent airport crash of the Helicopter and plane as an example of where traffic should be limited. Must be other over busy airports too...

(this is going to sound like I think this can be fixed with a technical solution. I don't)

I wonder what the software UX is like for ATC, and if there's room for improvement? Is the software/hardware ancient? I'd hope that it is absolutely rock solid but knowing big custom projects I'm not very hopeful!

I might have missed this in the article - how is the pay level set for ATC staff? In a free market economy price is the magical signal that is supposed to increase supply when there is unmet demand.

How much do they get paid?

Sounds like we need more typists and horses. Will hordes of traffic controllers help, or there is a better way?

Air traffic controller seems like one of the least rewarding job there are out there

Anyone remember the movie Pushing Tin with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton?

You can thank Reagan for mess we are in with ATC's...

Reagan was looking for a reason to break up the government unions and the union overplayed their hand. So, Reagan fired all of the striking ATCs -- 11,359 -- and banned them from federal service for life (later lifted by Clinton).

disingenuous headline. America desperately needs to reform ATC hiring.

This is the same headline as the professional trucking shortage in the USA and glosses over the real reasons no one will take these jobs. mandatory overtime, low wages, miserable benefits, high stress and a well documented history of retaliation against organized labor.

If you’ve flown in any capacity you probably owe your life to an ATC, you’ve probably been on a plane that would have suffered a collision if not for the ATC.

If you don't have air traffic controllers, the air traffic won't be controlled... who knew?

Wait, I thought we had AI.

Oh noes, what happened?

Then start paying them

I fear this will lead to Trump pushing OpenAI to use AI for air traffic controllers, which is going to result in a lot of deaths. Could AI eventually do the job? Maybe, but it will be a bloody road to get there.

This should be easy enough to solve. Cut the hours back to something sane, and as much as possible time the airport closures in ways that affect the ruling class. You get bonus points if their jets are also delayed during normal taxiing and clearance requests -- explain that it's for their safety, since they're more important than everyone else and can't slot in to the same sorts of back-to-back landings that the common folk use.

this seems a domain that's distinctively suited for AI

With the dismantling of the federal government [1, 2, 5], foreign multi billionaire “special government employee” running amok in US Treasury and other agencies [3], and current administration giving no-confidence signals of FAA/ATCs [4]

Trust in federal gov is vanishing before our eyes folks. And the billionaire class is getting what it wants — no regulations, “network states” (delusional libertarian concept by Balaji and backed by billionaire shitheads like Thiel), limited power to the people and labor force.

[1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/education-department...

[2] https://apnews.com/article/coast-guard-homeland-security-pri...

[3] https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-demands-...

[4] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-dei-diversity-policies-pl...

[5] https://apnews.com/article/trump-buyout-offer-federal-worker...

Honestly surprised that airlines don’t have options to tip the air traffic control crew, with how tipping culture is these days

Seems ripe for disruption with AI.

How many of those nerds who role play as air traffic controllers on flight simulations at home qualified to do it for real? How much extra training would they need?