FAA Releases 2026-2028 Air Traffic Controller Hiring and Modernization Plan

The Federal Aviation Administration unveiled the 2026-2028 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan on Friday. The plan calls for hiring thousands of new controllers, modernizing scheduling systems and replacing aging infrastructure. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford warned lawmakers in a December congressional hearing that air traffic control towers would never reach full staffing levels under the current structure.

"We’ll never catch up," Bedford said during the hearing. "We can’t continue to operate the same way and expect better results," he added. Bedford said in a statement that the plan delivers on President Donald J. Trump’s promise to provide the American flying public with a world-class air traffic control system.

The FAA plan identifies a full staffing target of 12,563 certified professional controllers. As of April 2026 the FAA had roughly 11,000 certified professional controllers deployed across more than 300 air traffic facilities.

The agency also has an additional 4,000 controllers in the training pipeline, including about 1,000 who were previously fully certified but are now training at new facilities. It can take more than two years to fully certify a new-hire controller depending on the complexity of the facility.

The FAA plans to hire 2,200 new air traffic controllers in fiscal year 2026, 2,300 in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028.

This builds on fiscal year 2025 when the FAA hired 2,028 air traffic controller trainees, the highest total since 2008. The agency raised starting salaries for academy students by nearly 30 percent that year. Total workforce losses in fiscal year 2025, including retirements, resignations, promotions, removals, training failures and academy attrition, totaled 1,460.