FAA reports record ATC trainee intake but certified controller count still short

The FAA said it took on 2,235 air traffic controller trainees in fiscal year 2026, beating its goal of 2,200 and setting the largest intake in the agency's history. A recruitment push aimed at gamers helped drive the surge, drawing more than 12,000 applications in under 24 hours.

The new hires won't be working airspace soon. More than 1,300 trainees graduated from the FAA academy in Oklahoma City during the year, but each still needs facility-specific training that can take years before full certification.

The certified professional controller count is the sticking point. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told a September hearing that roughly 11,000 CPCs were deployed across 313 air traffic control facilities, unchanged since April and about 1,500 short of the agency's FY26 target of 12,563 set by a workforce blueprint issued in May. Another 4,000 people were in the training pipeline at that point. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said it was left out of the calculation of that target, which sits below the FAA's earlier goal of 14,633 certified controllers.

An FAA blueprint calls for hiring 2,300 trainees in FY27 and 2,400 in FY28, with about $95 million in the agency's FY27 budget request to support the effort. The agency also said it recorded its highest number of academy students in its history in June.

Bedford said in a statement that meeting the year's hiring goal was an important milestone but not the finish line, adding that the agency is focused on recruiting and training controllers and on building a stronger workforce.