The Federal Aviation Administration launched a recruitment campaign Friday targeting video gamers, saying the same quick-reaction skills that make someone good at Fortnite could also make them a strong air traffic controller.
The hiring window opens April 17 and will cap at 8,000 applicants, according to the New York Times. Average salaries can reach $155,000 after three years on the job.
“Become an air traffic controller. It’s not a game. It’s a career,” reads the FAA’s new recruiting push. “You’ll keep millions of people safe every day. (And make a lot of money).”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the campaign is designed to reach people who already have the underlying skills but never considered aviation.
“To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt,” Duffy told the Times. “It taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller.”
The FAA currently employs around 11,000 controllers, roughly 3,700 short of its 14,663-position target. A January 2026 Government Accountability Office report found that even as applications have surged in recent years, the total number of controllers has dropped about 6% while domestic flight volume climbed roughly 10%.
The GAO report blamed the decline on government shutdowns, the COVID pandemic, and a surge in workforce departures between 2019 and 2024.
Heather Fernuik, executive director of the FAA’s human resources office, said results won’t be immediate.
“We’re really going to start to see gains about two and a half to three years from now,” Fernuik told the Times.
The agency hired more than 1,800 controllers in fiscal year 2024, exceeding its benchmarks. FAA plans to bring on at least 8,900 new controllers through 2028. Officials have also moved to speed up the pipeline by raising starting pay and streamlining the application process.
The certification path remains lengthy: initial screenings, a four- to six-month FAA training course, then additional on-the-job training, with full certification taking up to six years.
