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Posted on 05/03/2025 2:41:40 AM PDT by Libloather
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has launched a new cash incentive program aimed at recruiting and retaining air traffic controllers, he announced Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will give $5,000 bonuses to all academy graduates and new hires that complete initial qualification training. Academy graduates assigned to 13 facilities that have faced additional hiring struggles will get $10,000.
Additionally, certified professional controllers who are younger than 56 and opt not to retire when eligible will receive bonuses equal to 20 percent of their basic pay for each year they continue to work.
The new incentives are being offered for a limited time, but an FAA spokesman told The Hill a formal time frame has not been set.
“In our first 100 days, this administration has made more progress on addressing the air traffic controller shortage than the last one did in four years,” Duffy said in a statement. “But there’s more work to be done to secure our skies.”
Duffy announced in February he was looking for ways to “supercharge” staffing, noting the shortages he saw just weeks after the Senate confirmed him for the top transportation role.
“This staffing shortage has been a known challenge for over a decade, and this administration is committed to solving it,” Duffy said at the time.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
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20% bonus if you stay! Most of these guys are making well over 100k. So 20+k!
Have been in aviation for 44 years, and that is one job I would NOT want to do.
ATC is got to be mind-numbing.
Fortunately, certain personality types and cognitive profiles are much better suited to air traffic control than others, and many people do find the job satisfying rather than mind-numbing.
A bigger issue with air traffic control is, why are our systems antiquated and when will they be updated?
throwing money at it doesn’t make it quality work by the recipients of the money.
Return to relying on CTI schools for applicants. There were plenty of already trained individuals, but they were too white and too male for the Obama cult.
EC
It takes 8 years to produce a controller that can operate on his own.
I cannot remember if that required a college degree or not.
In 2024, median pay for ATCs was $144K, and all (or most) are federal jobs.
My brother was an air traffic controller for about 35 years and loved it. He spent 4 years in the Air Force out of high school (1970s), specialized in electronics. Later when Reagan fired the striking ATCs, he applied, was hired, and the rest they say is history, working mostly in the northeast—Syracuse, Rochester, Pittsburgh, and 20 years at Philadelphia before mandatory retirement, but was able to continue for another 5 years or so at State College, PA. Lord knows how much he made over all those years because he was very happy to work nights, weekends, holidays, and overtime. Now at 69 and having been retired close to 10 years, no doubt, he’s enjoying every bit of that annual six-figure retirement pay.
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Unfortunately, it’s barely middle class when you consider the vest majority have to live with the city the airport is located.
It's a highly specialized skill-set, and air travel would be impossible without them.
I've been on the "nuts and bolts" side of aviation for 44 years, most ATCs probably wouldn't be happy doing that.
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