Aviation Safety and Infrastructure

The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration have launched a new recruiting push aimed specifically at video gamers to help address a years‑long national shortage of air traffic controllers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday. A December GAO report found the FAA had 6% fewer controllers in fiscal 2025 than in 2015 even as total flights rose 10% over that period, with facilities like the Philadelphia center that manages Newark especially strained. Officials say more than 200 million Americans play video games and argue that fast decision‑making, focus and complexity management developed in gaming overlap with skills needed in control towers, noting that only about a quarter of current controllers hold traditional college degrees. The shortage has been worsened by last November’s 44‑day government shutdown, when controllers worked without pay and some left the profession, and by lengthy training requirements that can take two to six years from aptitude testing and academy training to full certification. The FAA says it hired more than 2,000 controllers in fiscal 2025 and is halfway to its 2026 hiring goal, though experts warn it will take years to rebuild staffing levels and ease pressure on the national airspace system.