The FAA’s reported numbers show a national gap between its certified-controller target and deployed staffing, but they do not tell you whether every facility or shift has enough people. Trainees are not interchangeable with fully certified controllers, hiring takes time to translate into operational staffing, and flight delays can have several causes. Here are five facts that put the shortage in context.
1. The national staffing gap is real, but trainees do not close it one-for-one
The FAA’s 2026 plan sets a target of 12,563 Certified Professional Controllers (CPCs). As of April 2026, the agency reported approximately 11,000 deployed CPCs and approximately 4,000 controllers in its training pipeline. Those are different categories: CPCs are fully certified, while trainees are still working toward qualification. The pipeline also includes roughly 1,000 previously certified controllers training at new facilities.
It would be misleading to subtract all 4,000 people in training from the CPC target. Qualification is facility-specific, and the FAA says trainees contribute differently from fully certified staff. The agency says fully certifying a new hire can take more than two years, depending on facility complexity. A national headcount therefore cannot, by itself, show whether a particular control facility has enough qualified people for its workload. The FAA’s 2026 workforce plan provides the agency’s target and reported counts.
2. The shortage reflects years of disruption, and training capacity limits how quickly it can ease
The FAA’s 2025 workforce plan describes interruptions to hiring and training associated with FY2013 discretionary sequestration, the 35-day FY2019 government shutdown, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects are difficult to reverse quickly because the route from hiring to academy training, facility qualification, and full CPC certification spans multiple stages.
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Hiring more people is only one part of that route. Screening, instructors, training capacity, and a receiving facility’s ability to train recruits all affect how many hires can progress. This helps explain why a larger hiring class does not immediately produce an equal number of fully deployable controllers.
3. Attrition absorbs a substantial share of hiring
The FAA’s 2025 plan projected 6,872 controller workforce losses across FY2025–FY2028. That is a forecast, not a final observed total. The projected breakdown was:
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| Projected source of losses | Number, FY2025–FY2028 |
|---|---|
| Academy attrition | 3,206 |
| Developmental losses | 804 |
| Promotions and transfers | 1,456 |
| Retirements | 819 |
| Resignations, removals, and deaths | 587 |
| Total projected losses | 6,872 |
These are workforce-wide projections. Promotions and transfers can move staff between facilities, affecting local staffing even when a transfer does not reduce the national controller workforce. The FAA’s 2025 workforce plan sets out the forecast and its categories.
4. Staffing models answer different questions—and no single number captures every facility’s readiness
The National Academies’ consensus review compared the FAA staffing model with the Collaborative Resource Workgroup (CRWG) model, developed with participation from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). A staffing estimate depends on what it counts and the question it is meant to answer: national workforce size, a facility’s staffing level, or the people available on a particular shift.
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The review identifies several relevant factors, including workload, controller efficiency, non-traffic duties, training, hiring, retention, transfers, retirements, leave, and scheduling. The FAA says the review found legacy staffing models sound while recommending additional considerations and input to improve them. Neither a model’s headline target nor a national total should be treated as a complete, standalone measure of whether every facility can meet its local demand. See the National Academies project page and its consensus report.
5. Low staffing can constrain traffic, but it is not the only cause of delays
The FAA says it may slow aircraft flow when daily or shift staffing is low. That is a traffic-management response to capacity constraints; a staffing shortfall alone does not establish that controllers are operating unsafely, nor does it explain every delay.
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In its account of Newark operations, the FAA said persistent low staffing and low training success at New York TRACON contributed to the 2024 transfer of Newark airspace control to Philadelphia TRACON. The agency also described technology issues, runway construction, and congestion in the broader Newark operational context. The example shows how staffing can contribute to a local operational constraint without being the sole explanation for disruption. The FAA’s Newark operations update describes its account.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the FAA is doing—and what hiring figures do not prove
The FAA reported hiring 2,235 controller trainees in FY2026, exceeding its stated goal of 2,200. Its announced targets are at least 2,300 trainees in FY2027 and 2,400 in FY2028. These are trainee hires and future hiring targets, not counts of newly certified CPCs or proof that certified staffing targets have been met at every facility. The agency describes its response as increasing hiring, improving workforce utilization and scheduling, and modernizing the National Airspace System. It says automated scheduling is intended to reduce excessive overtime, which can contribute to fatigue and burnout; that is a stated aim, not an established outcome. See the FAA’s FY2026 hiring announcement and its 2026 workforce plan.
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