After attacking the FAA, the Trump administration wants to boost air traffic control hiring

After criticizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) upon his return to office, President Donald Trump took steps to slash jobs at the agency — but his administration now appears to be changing its tune. Trump, alongside the cost-cutting team of Elon Musk's DOGE and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, is making a new effort to boost the hiring of air traffic.

Duffy announced on Feb. 27 that he was implementing a plan to "supercharge" air traffic controller hiring, outlining several actions the Transportation Department will take to bring in controllers. Despite this, some experts say there could be a shortage in the skies for the foreseeable future.

Pay increases and a request from Musk

One of the ways the Transportation Department is looking to hire more air traffic controllers is by increasing pay for recruits. Duffy announced an approximately 30% raise in pay for controllers in training at the FAA Academy. This will "boost the trainees' pay to $22.84 an hour, from $17.61," said The New York Times, and Duffy "expects the pay increase to go into effect within the next month."

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Duffy also has "plans to fast-track high-scoring applicants into open spots at the academy, ensuring the aviation safety agency does not lose them while they wait for a position to open," said the Times. He will additionally be streamlining the FAA's hiring process for controllers from eight steps to five.

Also weighing in was Musk, whose DOGE team is helming the effort to cut federal jobs. There is a "shortage of air traffic controllers," Musk said on X. If "you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so." It is unclear how this "un-retirement" would work, as federal law requires that air traffic controllers retire by the age of 56, though Duffy has said he can offer exemptions to this law.

A reversal of course

This "supercharging" of air traffic controllers seems to be a reversal for the Trump administration on its view of the FAA. Trump has previously disparaged the FAA for diversity initiatives, and the White House announced in February they were "firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees," said The Associated Press. The "impacted workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance," the AP added, though Duffy said on X that "zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go."

While "officials shielded air traffic controllers and other front-line safety workers from the wave of terminations," said The Washington Post, Democrats argued that any terminations at the FAA "put safety at risk." Those within the industry seemed to agree, as the first batch of FAA firings "included employees who play important roles in the safety of air travel — despite the Trump administration's assurances that no 'critical' staff had been axed," said Politico.

Many would "argue that every job at the FAA right now is safety critical," Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation safety consultant, said to Politico. Even with the White House seemingly backpedaling and pushing to hire more controllers, the cuts "certainly [are] not going to improve safety — it can only increase the risk."

Air traffic controllers "cannot do their work without us," one terminated employee who created air maps for plane routes said to Politico. The Trump administration "didn't understand how essential these jobs are for safety," the outlet said. Instead, workers were "targeted just as a senseless line item on an Excel sheet," the employee added.