In his statement dated June 11, 2008, Frank Krakowski, then COO, ATO, FAA, filed before the House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Hearing on Air Traffic Control Facility Staffing, the following:

“…Let me first begin by taking you back to 1981, when President Reagan fired over 10,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Control Organization (PATCO) for an illegal strike. In the wake of that event, our controller workforce was reduced to less than 4,700.”

Mr. Krakowski also noted the following: By 1992, FAA ATC was fully staffed. Almost 28,000 people had entered the FAA Academy. Of that number, 16,000 (57 percent) successfully completed the program; 33 percent did not pass, and 10 percent left the program for other reasons.

Of the remaining 16,000, approximately 72 percent of those assigned to Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) achieved Certified Professional Controller (CPC), while 84 percent assigned to terminal facilities achieved CPC.

FAA Staffing Issues Have Persisted Since 1981

Credit: Evans – Designs & Equips Mission-critical Operations

The FAA’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) has been upgraded and updated to provide the trainees with the most realistic environment, as the RADAR Lab, pictured above, was designed by Evans. Field facilities, Towers, TRACONS, and EnRoute Centers are on a scheduled “waterfall” for upgrades. Keeping in mind, a higher-level TRACON or ATC Tower may not see those individuals directly from the MMAC Academy. At higher-level facilities, these are normally Certified Professional Controllers (CPCs) from prior facilities that are upgrading or advancing. And naturally, all facilities have varying levels of complexity and staffing, which affect their ability to effectively train new people when they come on board. The figures below were derived from a very thorough website, 123atc.com.

You simply can not train for every possible scenario an Air Traffic Controller may encounter. This is why it takes so much time. The objective is for the new Controller to build enough skills in 85 or 90 percent of those, and to have the tools to draw on to address the other, seldom-seen instances.

The Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) employ the majority of the US FAA Controllers. It is not known whether attrition accounts for those leaving the ATC ranks. In other words, where Staff Support Specialists and Management positions become available, due to those seasoned individuals retiring, these may be filled by ATC Specialists, and sometimes only in a temporary status. It very much becomes a moving scale. Training departments in Centers and large facilities, actually all facilities, have to ensure compliance with FAA order 3120.4, a 285-page FAA Order that stipulates how training at every level is to be conducted from the Academy to almost any other facet of Air Traffic Control training. Quality Control follows the 7210.634. Not to mention, there are Internal Compliance Evaluations and External (ICVs/ECVs) conducted by those branches of Government to ensure compliance across all facilities (Service Delivery Points).

Why Can’t The FAA Make Any Headway?

Credit: FAA

Annually, each facility’s Air Traffic Managers (ATMs) are meticulous in attempting to project where each trainee will be in the process toward certification to support staffing numbers, as well as train during, the following year [keeping in mind, per the FAA/National Air Traffic Controller’s Association (NATCA) Memorandum of Agreement (MOU), each individual Controller must be given the opportunity to take the Annual Leave they will earn].

An FAA audit dated June 2, 2004 determined that between 2004 and 2012, 7,100 Air Traffic Controllers would become eligible for retirement. In the prior eight years, the FAA had lost only 2,100 due to attrition. However, the report points out, many of those hired to replace the thousands lost to the PATCO strike in 1981 would soon become eligible in short order. The Office of the Inspector General also later published a report on Training Failures Among Newly Hired Air Traffic Controllers in 2009.

The 2009 Memorandum mentioned above also reads:

Whether FAA will need to replace all 7,100 controllers on a one-for-one basis depends on many factors including future air traffic levels, new technologies, and long-term FAA initiatives such as redesigning the national airspace. However, it is clear that as a result of the anticipated increases in attrition, FAA will begin hiring and training controllers at levels not experienced since the early 1980s.

This report also notes, “FAA Needs To Assess Newly Hired Controllers’ Abilities Before They Are Placed.” This has been the major issue since the beginning of Air Traffic Control. There has yet to be a way to devise just who is capable, or not, hence the formidable rate of non-success. I recall in the 1980s the FAA, MMAC branch, Civil Aeronautical Medical Institute (CAMI), attempting to perform tests to determine possible traits that could define one’s capabilities. They walked away empty-handed. Additionally, a CAMI survey dated as recently as 2022 on the OJTI process was conducted. Still, the ability to gauge the individual’s likelihood of success has remained elusive. I would add that, luck has a lot to do with someone’s ability to see training through. A lot can happen in two and a half or more years while a Controller is trying to certify to the point of Certified Professional Controller (CPC). Everything the general population experiences is experienced by Air Traffic Controller trainees as well: family issues, divorce, and losing parents, as was the case with me.

FAA Leadership’s Good Intentions

Credit: Shutterstock

In 2008, Mr. Krakowski pointed out that there were 23 CTI schools in operation. In his statement, a 25% retention bonus was in effect at the time as well. Similarly, there was the ambition to hire 17,000 new controllers from 2008 to 2017. A 5500-deep applicant pool already existed; the report states that 256 controllers were added, and it was believed they were on target to reach 15,130 total Air Traffic Controllers. You read that correctly.

Conversely, later in 2016, the NATCA Union President, Paul Rinaldi, and his VP, Trish Gilbert, whom I both respect greatly, attempted to yet again bring to light the staffing situation to those in Washington, DC. The 2016 letter to the House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, in bold print reads: “The Flawed and Misleading FAA Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan.”

Our current Administration’s level of optimism is commendable. However, such efforts are not at all new. Simulation training has been provided in many FAA facilities for many years, and in some facilities as long as 50 years. Attempts and untold tactics to bolster the staffing levels we have proven began in 1981 if not before; airport safety technology, in the form of ground RADAR and collision avoidance systems have been decades in place, as well as the occasional bonus in pay here and there for remaining, or even joining, were ineffective except to keep the system pieced together. These have all been attempted and touted many times. But I must admit that of the previous attempts, I don’t recall the enthusiasm and promised resources at the level of the current Administration. Let us keep our fingers crossed.

Air Traffic Control Was Born On A Different Generation’s Ethics

Credit: US Army Corps of Engineers

On August 23, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aviation Act, creating the independent Federal Aviation Agency. The Timeline of FAA & Aerospace link is supplied to the left. If followed, we see that NASA was created in October of the same year. A fascinating video is available on YouTube titled “A Traveler Meets Air Traffic Control (1963).” In the suggested half-hour-long video, one can see the immense pride the FAA once had. These were people in a much simpler time, a bygone era. This was during the advent of the American Dream. Then, Air Traffic Controllers were considered a special breed during a time of increasing technological advances over a span of twenty years prior to and after the introduction of the jet age, space travel, computers, navigational aids, Airport Surveillance Detection (ASDE) Radar, and so on. They were rock stars.

The Air Traffic Controller Shortage Is Becoming Worldwide

Credit: FAA

It is important to note that we in the US are not the only air traffic system having difficulty finding and training new candidates. Privatization has been suggested. However, it is not a new concept. Nav Canada has recently been spoken of as an example. Nav Canada, however, is short of Air Traffic Controllers as well. They are a non-profit, and their operations are not dissimilar to DC’s I-66 Outside the Beltway, where users are charged via their transponder being read as they traverse Canadian Airspace.

Europe, too, is short of Air Traffic Controllers. Another article explains in depth the shortages and their effects on other countries’ privatized systems.

Trish Gilbert, mentioned above, is a highly esteemed and awarded former FAA Air Traffic Controller. Now, she holds the laudable position of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (IFATCA) Executive VP for the Americas. Ms. Gilbert, in an interview, is quoted as saying, “Asia Pacific is the least affected, but across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas, ATCO shortages are a clear cause for concern.”

Retention Pay For ATC Again, But Where Are All The New Controllers?

Credit: FAA

Hence, as in 2008, there is again the pay for the retention of veteran ATCs who are retirement-eligible but under the age of 56. However, as mentioned, the question is not necessarily the probability of an individual’s success in advance​​​​​, but the quality of their training. The benefit of determining the likelihood of someone’s ability to complete training prior to it would be a huge benefit to everyone involved: the US Government, the FAA, the airlines, and the flying public, if we were only able to have the answer to this piece of the puzzle.

Compiling many sources, we can see, from the years 2000 through 2024, close to 27,000 new trainees were offered positions, averaging 1,422 per year. In 2004, there were 14,934 ATCs on the payroll according to that year’s Workforce Plan. Most recently, in 2024, 411 were added to the falling numbers, although 1811 had been hired. However, now, Air Traffic Controller staffing, again a moving target, is reported to be in the vicinity of 10,500, which is over three-thousand below target. If these numbers are represented correctly, then where did all the human capital go?

Additionally, the most recent OIG report states that Contract Instructors at the FAA Academy are difficult to come by. A newly-retired EnRoute (ARTCC) Air Traffic controller is more likely to opt for a position in their home center where they are familiar and don’t have to uproot their family. And then we must expect the FAA’s retention bonus to further exacerbate the instructor shortage at the FAA Academy, as these retirees are their primary source for instructors. Meanwhile, the organization currently responsible for the Training Contract is Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), which has many advertised ATC Instructor openings on its website.

The Office of the US Inspector General has been called into action numerous times concerning FAA training and the preparation of new hires. It has been called upon yet again as indicated by this report, dated Feb 5, 2026:

“Attrition, retirements and ‘program washouts’ are severely affecting the overall success in increasing the number (of) certified controllers.” The failure rate among trainees was over 30% by 2024. The training academy faces many challenges, including a lack of qualified instructors, limitations in training capacity, outdated curriculum and high failure rates.

Can Staffing Levels In FAA’s ATC Ranks Ever Recover?

Credit: FAA

We find ourselves at the cusp of unbridled technological advancement. And we have a system that has become increasingly complex at such a rate that it is outpacing our own ability to adapt. Artificial intelligence will change our lives in ways we can’t understand. Meanwhile, our way of doing business is outdated and out of touch. I attended a course at the University of Colorado entitled “Managing Workforce Generations.” The much-advertised difference in the way we all work and think was the subject matter. Consider Maturana’s Santiago Theory of Cognition. This implies recognizing socio-ecological systems as complex and self-organizing. Juxtapose, could it be that the age group we require, those between 21 and 31 years of age — GenZ — will not find our profession of Air Traffic Control at all palatable, given the sacrifice and dedication required; a sacrifice which was once considered noble and good in the 20th Century, but now may be obsolete and draining — even unhealthy.

EnRoute Automation Modernization (ERAM), prior to 2012, was a very expensive, absolutely necessary, but small evolutionary step. It allowed the Controller to do more. But then it, too, would bear the question: is attempting to throw even more people at the problem, like spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks, even a solution? We have proven time and again that this method is expensive and inefficient. There is virtually no one in this profession who has not heard, “We’ve always done it this way.” Throwing more people at it then is just archaic, Jurassic thinking on a grander scale.

We have only failed if we don’t change our way of thinking. We need a new generation with new ideas. Of course, we can’t relax our standards, but forward-thinking is paramount at this point. In a recent interview, I stated that I thought the new Brand New Air Traffic Control System was attainable. This Administration has also been tasked, monetary outlay aside, to advance our ATC system, and, again, the ideology of just putting more people in the seats needs to be seriously questioned. “Air Traffic Control” will one day be a gone profession from the past. Traffic Management, the management of the system, will one day become its future.

Peraton has been awarded this contract. However, they may not even be in the business of staffing or training. We must also ask ourselves, is it simply that we cannot hire enough Air Traffic Controllers worldwide, or is the problem that we will not be able to adequately train the new generation using our antiquated, grueling, and ineffective methods of the last century (which would be a serious misfortune for all involved). Technology will demand a new approach. The FAA is already working toward improved infrastructure, with a patchwork of retention bonuses and other measures, and maybe this is all that is needed to buy a little more time. Perhaps we need to deal with this problem with greater flexibility. We need to find people who can adapt to a more advanced system.