Great at gaming? US air traffic control wants you to apply

People adept at video games should consider taking jobs as air traffic controllers, the US government has said, as it tries to address a shortage of workers in the sector.

In a new ad campaign, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is explicitly calling for gamers to apply for jobs in air traffic control when its hiring window opens next week.

The X-box one logo appears at the start of the video before dissolving into a montage that cuts between images of men playing various online computer games and people, including women, in air traffic control towers looking at their own computers.

"You've been training for this," the ad says.

The ad also highlights the salary on offer to controllers, saying it is $155,000 (£115,00) after three years of work.

US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement that the FAA had to adapt in order to reach the next generation of air traffic controllers.

The new strategy tapped into "a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller", he said.

The campaign echoes one launched in 2021 under the Biden administration, called "level up", a phrase used to describe making progress in electronic games.

The Biden-era push was also aimed at persuading gamers to fill vacant controller jobs.

Air traffic control is crucial to maintaining safety for aircraft going in and out of airports. Controllers monitor and direct aircraft to avoid collisions and other issues at, above and around airports. Guides to the profession suggest the job requires quick decision-making under pressure as well as technical expertise.

However vacancies for controllers have been a problem for years, with the shortfall projected to grow each year for the next several years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The FAA said last year that it would be considered fully staffed with 14,663 active controllers. It was at least 3,000 controllers short at the time and said twice that many controllers were expected to leave their roles by 2028.

Duffy said on Friday that staffing was currently at its highest level in six years, but did not provide specific numbers.

Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a labour union that represents controllers, said unions supported the strategy of recruiting gamers to tackle the shortage.

"Our union welcomes innovative approaches to expanding the candidate pool, including outreach to individuals with high-level aptitude skills such as gamers, so long as all pathways maintain the rigorous standards required of this safety-critical profession," Daniels said.

The recruitment drive comes after several high-profile incidents involving aircraft and air traffic control.

In early 2025, an army helicopter ran into a passenger jet mid-air above Ronald Reagan Airport near Washington DC, killing 67 people. This year, an Air Canada flight crashed into an airport fire truck at La Guardia Airport in New York, killing two pilots.