Attention, gamers: The FAA wants YOU to be an air traffic controller
- Reference: 1776100329
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/04/13/faa_gamers_air_traffic_control/
- Source link:
That's right, pilots! Soon the ranks of folks coordinating your safe takeoffs and landings may be filled by famously level-headed players of titles such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, League of Legends, and other games shown briefly on screen in a recruitment [1]video the Department of Transportation published recently. The video features, ominously, a remix version of Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as its questionable musical choice.
[2]Youtube Video
[3]
Yes, we know games [4]don't actually make people more violent, but let's be realistic. The types of online games shown being played in the DoT's super hip, sure-to-reach-the-youths call for recruits definitely attract a group of people known for [5]spewing vitriol .
[6]
[7]
"You've been training for this," the DoT tells prospective gamers in the video, suggesting the self-imposed high-stress (and admittedly low-stakes) world of online gaming is exactly what the next generation of air traffic controllers needs to succeed.
"It's not a game … it's a career," the Department added, encouraging gamers to apply when the annual hiring window opens Friday, April 17, at midnight Eastern, with the FAA set to stop accepting applications after 8,000 submissions.
[8]
Here's hoping that training comes with a crash course in ditching gamer lingo - one would think few commercial airline pilots would appreciate a "gg, noob" after landing their plane.
Gamers to the rescue
"To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said of the hiring push. "This campaign's innovative communication style and focus on gaming taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller."
The next generation is definitely needed to fill the ranks of the Federal Aviation Administration's ATC corps, as there continues to be shortages despite years of hiring pushes from the DoT.
According to a Government Accountability Office report [9]published in December, the FAA has been pushing hard for new applicants for a decade, but is still short thousands of ATCs despite some 200,000 applicants in the last few years.
The GAO blamed much of the continued shortage on the difficult hiring process, which only around two percent of applicants complete. Some of that is down to failed training, people losing interest, or not passing screening, naturally, but the GAO said that the difficulty in making multiple screening appointments and long wait periods is also responsible for a considerable share of applicant attrition.
[10]
The Transportation Department claims that it is addressing that in its gamer hiring blitz announcement, noting that it's shaved more than five months off the ATC hiring process in recent months, helping push it to a record hiring level in the past year, with 2,400 ATCs being onboarded since March 2025.
The FAA said that it's already nearly 50 percent of the way to its FY26 ATC hiring goal too, with nearly 1,200 new ATCs hired so far this year.
That said, there's still an inordinately high failure rate among those accepted for training, with a third of candidates never finishing the process. That failure rate is high enough that the DoT's Office of Inspector General launched an [11]audit of the FAA's ATC academy.
"The Academy is facing considerable challenges with training, including a shortage of qualified instructors, training capacity limitations, an outdated curriculum, and high training failure rates," the IG said, citing those concerns amid a serious need for more ATCs as the reason for its investigation.
[12]Flying cabs, next-gen aircraft cleared for takeoff in 26 states
[13]FAA signs radar deals to drag US air traffic control out of the 1980s
[14]Sky-high budget gap: FAA launches air traffic overhaul, lacks cash to finish it
[15]US Transpo Sec wants air traffic control rebuild in 3 years, asks Congress for blank check
It's not clear whether the outdated curriculum refers to teaching new ATCs to use [16]ancient , [17]unsustainable technology amid the FAA's continuing, [18]and underfunded , modernization push.
When asked about the announcement and the state of ATC hiring more broadly, the FAA told us it was in the midst of "deploying a multi-pronged approach to recruit new controllers, improve training success rates and reduce overall training times." It's doing this by linking up with colleges to get university-trained controllers into the system and creating year-round hiring opportunities for pre-qualified individuals.
And then there's the monetary incentives. Along with boasting of salaries north of $155,000 a year for experienced ATCs, the FAA told us it's also offering $5,000 rewards for academy graduates and new hires who complete initial training, $10,000 for those willing to take jobs in hard-to-fill locations, and lump sum 20 percent salary bonuses for those who stay on after they're eligible for retirement.
If that's not desperation, then what is?
Considering a change of profession? Sorry to the old gamers among us hoping to land a spot in a control tower: the FAA generally requires first-time applicants to be under 31, so no crusty old Gen X or elder Millennial applicants, please. ®
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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyQ8ktDrQbc
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyQ8ktDrQbc
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ad1nhtBKtlF9zqqu8W40aAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyQ8ktDrQbc
[5] https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/toxicity-healing-changing-culture-online-gaming
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ad1nhtBKtlF9zqqu8W40aAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ad1nhtBKtlF9zqqu8W40aAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ad1nhtBKtlF9zqqu8W40aAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.gao.gov/blog/while-thousands-applied-become-air-traffic-controllers-theres-still-shortage-we-looked-why
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ad1nhtBKtlF9zqqu8W40aAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/47116
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/10/evtol_pilot_26_states/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/faa_radar_atc_deals/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/faa_begins_air_traffic_overhaul/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/09/transportation_secretary_air_traffic_upgrade/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/faa_radar_atc_deals/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/faa_air_traffic_control/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/faa_begins_air_traffic_overhaul/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Do I get a gamers chair, that's my only question.
The FAA generally requires first-time applicants to be under 31
Well, there's a major part of the problem.
In 2025 only 13% of the US population fell into the 20-30 age group, so their pool is really quite small.
Worse, very few people can afford to burn the waiting time at the start of their careers, as they don't have the buffer from existing or previous jobs to tide them over.
>The FAA generally requires first-time applicants to be under 31
Obviously for a job where your actions have real world consequences you can't have a 79 year old doing it
I guess the key strenghts is the ability/willingness to sit for hours in a chair and stare at a computer screen.
-> where's my rulebook
That's great, but don't forget they'll be expected to work without pay everytime the government gets shutdown. Also that it's stressful, long hours, and often means working holidays etc so it has a pretty good burn out rate.
They do get all the "missing" money after the shutdown is over. Do you really want ATCs which are so bald at handling their money that they cannot sustain a 1 to 4 month gap if they DO get their money? (The real question: Does the state add a interest rate for the time they don't give the money? Germany does...)
>They do get all the "missing" money after the shutdown is over
Only by the benevolent gift of the executive, they have no automatic right to the money. They are also stressed by not being paid bonuses/vacation pay of they took a single day sick during shutdown
> Do you really want ATCs which are so bald at handling their money
It's your first year in the job, you have student loans, you've had months of minimum pay during training, you've had to move to a big city and pay rent+deposit up front
Pause at 0:28
There you see the actual equipment. They may have swapped the tube monitors against something more modern after they failed, but the rest is classic 40 year old beige, knobs, keyboards... That is the real "modern" stuff, and is probably 40 years old? 0:30 again etc... Most of the video, especially when it looks new and modern, is a propaganda mock up.
Oh, "Comments are turned off.".. Guess I am not the only one thinking this is weird. And only 173 likes for 19k views...
Re: Pause at 0:28
This.
The actual equipment is indeed running on a lot of 40 year systems. The whole system is badly mix-n-matched.
However, there is a current 6 billion dollar update going on, but it's more a of band-aid than an overhaul. Some reports say as much as 15 billion, but... since the reports are NOT consistent, I'm going with the lowest figure quoted at 6 billion. And the process is going to take years.And it's not consistent either.
Re: Pause at 0:28
In 2024 the FAA had 13,744 controllers, already a shortage of 859. The [1]FAA expects to lose 6,872 controllers during 2025-2028. No wonder they are desperate for new staff.
[1] https://reason.org/aviation-policy-news/cautions-on-a-brand-new-atc-system/#c
Re: Pause at 0:28
It looks like they're on the bridge of the Spaceball I (film released in 1987) only there's more beige.
Re: Pause at 0:28
And where is the Mr. Coffee? I always have coffee when I watch the radar! You know that!
FAA ATC Transcript
[ATC] Oh, dude! You wiped out big time! Don't worry, just go around to the respawn point and try again.
Sounds easy
I used to be pretty good - You still get extra lives if you get the spaceship at the top of the screen ?