The FAA is pitching gamers as potential air traffic controllers in a new hiring campaign that opens April 17, 2026, as the agency seeks to address a staffing shortfall across the US air traffic system.
The campaign uses language pulled straight from gaming culture, including phrases like “Level up your career,” while steering applicants toward the standard federal hiring pipeline for entry-level controller jobs.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the FAA unveiled the campaign by saying it is aimed at younger applicants whose experience with fast-paced games may translate into useful skills such as focus, spatial awareness, quick decision-making, and handling multiple moving elements at once.
The agency is not creating a separate track for gamers. Applicants still must meet the same eligibility standards and pass the same screening and training process as other candidates.
The hiring window runs through April 27, though the FAA said it could close sooner if it receives the 8,000 applications it seeks.
Candidates must be US citizens, be younger than 31 before the closing date, speak English clearly enough to be understood over communications equipment, pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment, clear medical and security reviews, complete training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, and then finish facility training before certification.
No prior ATC experience is required for the public hiring track.
The FAA faces a controller shortage it has struggled to fix for years. The agency said it has nearly 11,000 certified professional controllers and more than 4,000 people in the training pipeline, but pressure on the system remains high.
A Government Accountability Office review published in January 2026 said the controller workforce has fallen about 6% over the past decade as operations relying on the ATC system increased.