Air traffic controllers head says hiring gamers will help
The agency says gaming skills can help fill controller shortages after resignations and call-outs strained staffing.
- On Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Federal Aviation Administration hired more than 2,000 air traffic controllers this year, marking the agency's largest single-year recruitment milestone through a campaign targeting video game players.
- The recruitment drive began in April following a swath of resignations and call-outs amid two long government shutdowns that severely harmed the FAA's recruitment pipeline over the last year.
- Transportation officials cited research from 2006 and 2024 suggesting gaming fosters multitasking and spatial awareness, allowing the agency to tap into over 200 million regular gamers in the United States.
- While the FAA reached 94% of its hiring goal, these recruits are not yet fully certified; trainees face a rigorous process requiring two to three years of on-the-job experience before independent work.
- Government Accountability Office data shows only about 2 percent of applicants ultimately complete the certification process, as the FAA reduced its 2026 staffing target from 14,633 to 12,563 controllers.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Head of Air Traffic Controllers praises FAA for ‘innovative approach’ to recruitment, confirming gamers have the ‘hard skills’ needed for the role
The Federal Aviation Administration just hit a major milestone in its latest recruitment drive, successfully bringing on more than 2,000 new air traffic controllers this year. This hiring surge is the result of a deliberate campaign focused on video game players, a strategy that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says is aimed at reaching a growing demographic of young adults who already possess the hard skills necessary for the role. According…
FAA reports recruitment campaign aimed at gamers sparked record in...
The Federal Aviation Administration reached historic hiring levels for air traffic controllers through its campaign to target gamers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an Aug. 9 post on X that the campaign "supercharged the entire hiring process to get the BEST & BRIGHTEST in faster." As a result, the TSA hit 94 percent of its hiring goal this year, which is the fastest the agency has reached that goal. Those figures translate into 2,0…
The Anti-DEI Trump Admin Is Boasting About Speedily Hiring Video Gamers As Air Traffic Controllers
Source: Sergii Zhmurchak / Getty Once again, the anti-DEI administration is proving that its propaganda campaign against the very concept of diversity was never about merit or a fear of lacking qualifications — it was just plain old bigotry the whole time. How has the administration of President Donald Trump demonstrated this, you ask? Well, on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that his office has taken a huge step towards so…
The FAA Is Recruiting Gamers to Help Fix Its Air Traffic Controller Shortage
In news presented by this presidential administration that surely was meant to impress us but is actually deeply concerning, the federal government’s attempt at solving the nationwide air traffic controller shortage seems to have begun and ended with recruiting gamers, based on the half-cocked theory that people who play video games somehow have the right […] The post The FAA Is Recruiting Gamers to Help Fix Its Air Traffic Controller Shortage a…
Air traffic controllers head says hiring gamers will help
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, commended the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Wednesday for its recent hiring surge targeting video game players. Daniels told NewsNation, The Hill’s sister company, that gaming skills “absolutely” translate to working as an air traffic controller and called the FAA’s move an “innovative approach to capture…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 43% of the sources lean Left, 43% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
