The FAA said it onboarded more air traffic controller trainees in fiscal year 2026 (FY26) than in any year in the agency’s history, though the number of certified professional controllers (CPCs) remained hundreds short of headcount targets as of August.
The agency set a goal of hiring 2,200 ATC trainees in FY26 and said Thursday that it onboarded 2,235. The influx was in part due to the FAA’s recruitment of gamers, which netted more than 12,000 applications in under 24 hours, the agency said.
