Over the past few years, the Federal Aviation Administration has received roughly 200,000 applications from people wishing to become air traffic controllers in the US. Yet the system remains short staffed, with controller ranks down about 6% over the past decade even as air traffic volumes have climbed.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) lays out why these numbers don’t add up. The obvious answer is that interest alone does not translate into certified controllers, and the FAA’s hiring and training pipeline remains slow, restrictive and unforgiving. But the story runs deeper than that.
According to the GAO, flight capacity relying on the US air traffic control system has increased by about 10% over the past decade. Staffing, however, has moved in the opposite direction, causing controller shortages at many critical facilities. The pressure became especially visible in 2025, when delays and staffing constraints drew widespread public attention, particularly during the US government shutdown in October.
The GAO pointed to several staffing disruptions that contributed to the current issues. Government shutdowns in 2013, and again in 2018-2019, froze hiring and training. The COVID-19 pandemic suspended controller training entirely for four months, and then allowed only limited capacity for nearly two years. At the same time, retirements and resignations rose between 2019 and 2024, just as travel demand rebounded.
Even under normal conditions, the path to becoming a certified controller is long and arduous. All applicants must pass an aptitude exam, medical screening and security background checks before receiving an offer. Most then attend a four- to six-month course at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, followed by years of on-the-job training. Full certification can take up to six years.
The result is extreme attrition. GAO estimates that only about 2% of applicants ultimately become certified controllers or remain in training. Of more than 100,000 applicants analyzed in one hiring cycle, just over 2,000 made it through the process.
Additional constraints
What the GAO report does not emphasize, however, is how much the applicant pool is constrained before the process even begins. The FAA limits first-time controller hires to applicants under age 31, and mandates retirement at age 56. That rule alone excludes large numbers of otherwise qualified candidates, including mid-career professionals, military veterans transitioning later in life, and pilots or engineers seeking a second career.
The FAA has long defended the age restriction by citing the cognitive demands of the job and the time required to justify training costs. But critics argue that the rule sharply narrows the pool at a time when the agency can least afford it. Other countries operate air traffic control systems with more flexible age policies, and advances in automation and decision-support tools have changed how controllers manage workload.
In its report, the GAO focuses primarily on process improvements rather than policy changes to help fix the problem. The agency recommends streamlining the hiring pipeline, improving applicant communication, and better analyzing internal data to understand when and why candidates drop out. The GAO also found that aptitude test scores may correlate with long-term success, suggesting the FAA could refine screening rather than relying on blunt filters later in the process.
The FAA has already taken steps to speed hiring, including hosting pre-employment events that allow candidates to complete multiple requirements at once. Nevertheless, the GAO found many applicants struggle to track their status or understand the next steps, increasing the chance that they might abandon the process or accept other jobs.
The controller shortage, GAO concludes, is not the result of a lack of interest. It is the product of a rigid system built for a bygone era, where training timelines, hiring limits and workforce rules have not kept pace with demand.