Air traffic controllers eligible to retire are being offered a 20 percent cash bonus to stay on the job, the Transportation secretary said.
Around 2,400 new air traffic controllers have been hired at American airports in the past 12 months, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
When asked about resolving the deficit of air traffic controllers (ATC) in an April 8 interview with CNBC, Duffy said: “We had the biggest year of hiring in six years.
“We have more controllers for the first time since pre-pandemic.”
However, Duffy noted that the washout rate of ATCs was “too high” at 30 percent.
To bring down the rate, “getting the right young adults to get into the school is what we’re thinking through right now,” the secretary said. “We have big classes coming through next week. We’re going to announce a new class of air traffic controllers.”
Duffy said he was offering controllers eligible to retire “a 20 percent up-front cash bonus” to stay on the job.
The Transportation secretary also talked about investing in aviation infrastructure.
“I got twelve and a half billion dollars that I’m working on right now. Next two and a half years, we’re going to spend that building out new telecom, we’re gonna have new radar, new voice switches. But the next part is we need new software to manage the system. Congress has to give me money for that,” he said.
The $12.5 billion is part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Donald Trump in July 2025.
The funding is to be used for “acquisition, construction, sustainment, and improvement of facilities and equipment necessary to improve or maintain aviation safety,” according to the bill.
In an April 7 post on X, Duffy said the funding was being used for new runway tracking technologies, electronic flight strips, state-of-the-art radars, and brand-new fiber lines at airports across the country.
“These upgrades will make travel safer and more efficient than ever,” Duffy said. “We are working at the Speed of Trump to build our new air traffic control system.”
The push to boost the ATC workforce comes as a major accident last year put scrutiny on staff shortages.
In January 2025, an army helicopter collided with a commercial jet near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people. The National Transportation Safety Board revealed in a report that one controller was handling frequencies for both airplanes and helicopters simultaneously that night.
In July, FAA Deputy Chief Operating Officer Nick Fuller defended the ATC staffing level at the airport, saying 26 out of 28 controllers were working on the day of the accident.
