The FAA onboarded a record 2,235 air traffic controller trainees in FY26, surpassing its target and boosted by a gamer-focused recruitment push that produced over 12,000 applications. More than 1,300 academy graduates still must complete multi-year, facility-specific training before achieving full certification. The agency currently deploys about 11,000 CPCs with roughly 4,000 in training — about 1,500 short of the workforce-blueprint goal — and plans further hiring, training expansion and system modernization. Administrator Bryan Bedford called the hiring milestone significant but did not commit to a legislated 3.8% pay raise for active controllers.
FAA Onboards Record Number Of ATC Trainees — Certified Controller Shortfall Remains
FAA Breaks ATC Hiring Record, But More Work Remains
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it onboarded a record 2,235 air traffic controller trainees in fiscal year 2026 (FY26), exceeding its goal of 2,200. While the recruitment milestone is significant, the FAA still faces a material shortfall in fully certified professional controllers (CPCs), and it will take years for many new hires to become fully operational.
The agency credited an unconventional recruitment push — including outreach to gamers — with generating more than 12,000 applications in under 24 hours. That surge helped the FAA send more trainees to the agency academy in Oklahoma City: more than 1,300 candidates graduated from the academy in FY26. However, those graduates must still complete facility-specific on-the-job training, a process that can take multiple years before they earn full CPC certification and begin independently managing airspace.
At a September congressional hearing, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford testified that roughly 11,000 CPCs were deployed across 313 air traffic control facilities, with about 4,000 people still in the training pipeline. That 11,000 figure, unchanged since April, is roughly 1,500 below the workforce-blueprint target of 12,563 established in May and well below an earlier FAA headcount objective of 14,633 CPCs.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) said it was excluded from the calculation used to set that target and has criticized the lower figure. The FAA's workforce blueprint calls for hiring 2,300 new trainees in FY27 and 2,400 in FY28; the agency's FY27 budget request includes about $95 million to support recruitment and training.
The FAA also cited expanded training capacity and incentives introduced in 2025 and 2026 — including retention and recruitment bonuses — as factors behind the academy surge. The agency is broadening partnerships with universities certified to deliver the same curriculum as the Oklahoma City academy, increasing throughput of trained candidates.
Separately, the FAA is investing in a multibillion-dollar modernization program to replace aging air traffic control hardware and software across the national network, an effort intended to improve system resilience and support future workforce needs.
On the pace and priorities: Bedford said meeting FY26 hiring targets "is an important milestone, but it's not the finish line." He added that the FAA is focused on recruiting high-quality candidates and equipping them with training and tools to build a resilient workforce.
On pay: Bedford declined in September to commit to administering a legislated 3.8% pay raise for active controllers, saying he respects controllers but that Congress asked the agency to explore ways to improve staffing efficiency and that pay increases are not the only tool for doing so.
Bottom line: FY26 recruiting broke records, but the combination of a long certification timeline, existing CPC shortfalls, and questions about compensation and efficiency means staffing gaps will persist for several years unless sustained hiring, training and retention efforts continue.
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