US hires over 2,000 video gamers as air traffic controllers
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the recruiting push has filled 94% of the hiring goal and sent 2,000 more candidates to the academy.
- On Sunday, Aug. 9, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Federal Aviation Administration has hired more than 2,000 new air traffic controllers, achieving 94% of the agency's annual hiring goal.
- The Department launched a recruitment campaign in April targeting gamers, seeking young adults with transferable skills including "demonstrated high cognitive functions," "multitasking," and "strategy and problem-solving."
- Within 24 hours of the program's April launch, the agency received over 12,000 applications, with successful candidates reaching the Academy faster than any previous class, Secretary Duffy said.
- Calling the initiative a "game changer," Secretary Duffy stated the agency is "building the strongest, sharpest workforce in aviation history" through this streamlined hiring process.
- This aggressive recruitment addresses Federal Aviation Administration workforce challenges, including last year's government shutdown that forced staff to work without pay for several days.
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Gamer Recruitment Campaign Led to Record Air Traffic Controller Hiring: FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration reached historic hiring levels for air traffic controllers through its campaign to target gamers. According to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s comments in an Aug. 9 post to X, 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 tr…
The US Hired 2,000 Gamers to Fix the Air Traffic Control Crisis
Every year, the number of flights in the United States goes up — but the pool of air traffic controllers who manage airplane runways keeps going down. Fewer air traffic controllers mean delayed or canceled flights at best, and potential crashes at worst. The American government has spent the last year trying to address this problem, and its solution has turned out to be ... Fortnite?
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