Playing video games may help Americans score their next job.
As part of a strategy to reverse the air traffic control worker shortage, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now targeting video gamers.
According to the FAA and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, the campaign to recruit video gamers as air traffic controllers has allowed the US agency to meet 94% of its hiring goal for 2026 so far.
“The FAA is continuing its supercharged hiring and is onboarding new controllers at a record pace. The President’s supplemental budget request includes additional funding for controller hiring,” the FAA told Inc in a statement.
As part of the agency’s 2026 Controller Workforce Plan, the FAA has identified a full staffing target of 12,563 Certified Professional Controllers. The initiative aims to reach young adults who possess useful skills that are transferable to a career in air traffic control. For the FAA, that includes gamers.
Gaming experts aren’t surprised by the push.
“The world is finally beginning to understand that gamers are far more than the stereotype we’ve been sold,” Clinton Sparks, founder and CEO of the Global Gaming League, told Inc. “Elite gamers are highly skilled, intensely focused, exceptional problem-solvers who understand that communication, teamwork, adaptability, and decision-making are everything. You don’t reach the highest levels of gaming without a very specific kind of intelligence.”
According to the FAA, approximately 65%, more than 200 million, of Americans regularly play video games. Even so, most members of this group may not be envisioning a leap into the airline industry.
“Most gamers probably never imagined air traffic control as a career their skills could translate into,” Sparks said.
Controller pipeline
Aside from gamers, the agency is also introducing year-round hiring opportunities for experienced controllers from the military and private industry in order to fill its quota.
As of April 2026, approximately 11,000 CPCs are deployed across more than 300 FAA air traffic facilities. An additional 4,000 controllers are in the training pipeline, including approximately 1,000 who were previously fully certified controllers but are now training at new air traffic control facilities.
In order to best prepare the new group of air traffic controllers, the FAA has established an Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative Partnership Program, which will allow for intensive training.
The agency is also using a modernised Tower Simulation System, which is used for controller training on airport operations. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was the first to receive it. Since then, the agency has launched the simulator in over 90 facilities across the country.
“Safety is our priority, and we are investing in new technologies that provide enhanced training for our air traffic controllers,” former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a 2024 press release. “The new simulators will help us achieve that by providing real scenarios to train controllers throughout the National Airspace System.” – Inc./Tribune News Service
