Trump team turns to unlikely group to fill much needed air traffic controller jobs - gamers

Facing a national shortage of air traffic controllers, the Trump administration has turned to an unconventional pool of people for help: video game enthusiasts.On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration released a one-minute YouTube ad, urging gamers to swap their Xboxes and PlayStations for radar displays.“You’ve been training for this,” the ad declares over the pulsing beat of song “Heads Will Roll.” “Become an air traffic controller,” it continues. “It’s not a game. It’s a career.”The video highlights an average salary of $155,000 after three years, and notes that the FAA will begin accepting applications April 17.The Trump administration is attempting to recruit video game enthusiasts to help fill critical air traffic controller positions. Pictured here is a screengrab from a new FAA ad (X/Secretary Sean Duffy)The FAA, which oversees aviation safety across the country, said that applicants must be US citizens, under 31 years of age and fluent in English (X/Secretary Sean Duffy)The FAA, which oversees aviation safety across the country, said in a statement that applicants must be U.S. citizens, under 31 years of age and fluent in English.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reposted the ad on X, urging his followers to “watch this.”“To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt,” Duffy said in a statement to The New York Times. Targeting gamers, he said, “taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller.”Some air traffic experts told the outlet that gamers could bring valuable skills to the airline industry though others questioned whether the recruitment push will resolve broader staffing shortages.“When you bring on someone who has gaming experience, particularly with air traffic control, they have an edge up,” Michael O’Donnell, an aerospace consultant and former FAA official, said. “They’re coming in with a skill set. But it doesn’t replace aptitude, or discipline, or decision making under pressure.”The Independent has contacted the FAA and the Department of Transportation for comment.‘To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt,’ Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (center) told The New York Times (Getty)The industry has been weighed down by a persistent shortage of air traffic controllers for years. Over the past decade, the number of air traffic controllers has declined by roughly 6 percent, even as the number of flights has risen by 10 percent.“These dedicated professionals continue to work short-staffed, often six days a week, ten hours a day for years at a time, using outdated equipment and in rundown facilities that are in many cases more than 60 years old and are long overdue to be modernized and/or replaced,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told Congress last year.More than 300 fully certified controllers have joined the FAA since September 2024, according to The New York Times, bringing the total number to about 11,000. In August 2025, the agency said it would require 14,663 controllers in total to be fully staffed.Airports are still facing a problem presented by the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which has dragged on for more than 50 days. For much of this time, Transportation Security Administration officers went without pay, leading hundreds of officers to quit and thousands to call off work.In late March, President Donald Trump signed a memo ordering Homeland Security to find the money to pay TSA workers, and they started to receive backpay.