Now the Federal Aviation Administration says players are the answer to its air traffic controller shortage

The FAA has struggled for years to get enough air traffic controllers to address the shortage, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says. In January The number of people working in the United States has declined by about 6% “in the past decade.” The Trump administration is now launching a recruiting campaign targeting players ahead of the opening of the annual Air Traffic Control recruiting window on April 17.

Even with the campaign, getting qualified individuals through training to take on this role may still be a challenge: according to According to the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), the FAA faces “significant training challenges, including a shortage of qualified instructors, limitations on training capacity, outdated curriculum, and high training failure rates.”

that The FAA video is full of clips Of things like Madden NFL, fortnite, league of legends E-sports, Xbox One commercials promise an average salary of $155,000 a year after three years and say “I trained for this.”

in press releaseThe FAA says air traffic controllers said in exit interviews that the games had an impact on their “ability to think quickly, maintain focus, and manage complexity.” the FAA website about the application process Encourages applicants to “level up” their careers. However, the Trump administration is not the first to target players for this role; According to to New York TimesThe Biden administration launched a “Level Up” recruiting campaign in 2021, encouraging players as well as women and members of minority groups to become air traffic controllers.

Getting more air traffic controllers has been the focus of Sean Duffy, President Trump’s transportation secretary, and he announced a plan to “boost” hiring Shortly after he was sworn in to this position last year. That campaign closed in March 2025 and “attracted more than 10,000 applications,” resulting in about 600 trainees entering the observer training academy, the OIG says. The GAO says some attrition during the air traffic controller hiring process “may be preventable,” noting that the hiring process can be “difficult to navigate” and that applicants may have already accepted other jobs by the time they get a job offer.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union that represents air traffic controllers, welcomes “innovative approaches to broadening the pool of candidates,” including “connecting with highly skilled individuals such as gamers,” according to a statement from NATCA President Nick Daniels.