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US Hires Over 2,000 Video Gamers As Air Traffic Controllers (cbsnews.com) 86

Posted by BeauHD from the game-changer dept.
The FAA says its push to recruit video gamers as air traffic controllers has helped it hire more than 2,000 trainees, reaching 94% of its hiring goal. Another 2,000-plus candidates are in the pipeline. CBS News reports: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a recent social media post that the federal agency's recruitment campaign to recruit gamers as air traffic controllers has been a "game changer" for the Federal Aviation Administration. [...] When Duffy announced the initiative in April, he acknowledged that the Transportation Department needed to extend its reach to recruit prospective air traffic controllers.

"A lot of what they do playing games ... is what they do ... controlling traffic in the air," Duffy told CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave in an interview on Tuesday at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport. Duffy added that many current trainees started out as gamers. Only about 25% of controllers hold a traditional college degree, while former controllers note that gaming requires many of the same skills that air traffic controllers use on the job, such as thinking quickly, staying focused and managing multiple sources of information as they guide more than 80,000 flights to their destinations daily.

US Hires Over 2,000 Video Gamers As Air Traffic Controllers More | Reply

US Hires Over 2,000 Video Gamers As Air Traffic Controllers

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  • It's a shit job for which you are underpaid and which has only gotten harder under this administration. No wonder they had to hire people who spend their time in fantasy worlds because they are capable of sufficient suspension of disbelief

    • Re:They had to find suckers somewhere (Score:5, Insightful)

      by clifwlkr ( 614327 ) on Wednesday August 12, 2026 @11:11AM (#66285504)
      I first off agree it is a super high stress job with long hours, but I don't know I would call it underpaid. It's a six figure job with almost guaranteed overtime with federal benefits. I see the average salary is like around 150k with great job security and benefits, and the overtime will push your pay way above that. I mean who gets a six figure job that actually gives you overtime. Working in tech will require you to work all of those extra hours for just your base pay, and we are talking people under 30 here as they cap starting to 30 years old.....

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 )

        It's a six figure job with almost guaranteed overtime with federal benefits.

        Take a long, careful look around you, then tell me you're confident that all of what you just said will still be true in a year or two.

        • Why, do you think the ATC will be replaced with AI? I guess that's possible. Otherwise, it's a high-demand high-difficulty job that's absolutely necessary for global and domestic commerce, so yeah, we can reasonably expect it to remain well paid.

          • re: replacing with AI (Score:5, Interesting)

            by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Wednesday August 12, 2026 @12:17PM (#66285602) Journal

            I, for one, doubt we'll see air traffic control replaced by AI any time soon. The big reason is accountability. If one air traffic controller completely screws things up and causes a plane crash -- that person can be singled out, terminated, and things return to normal. If the AI they replaced the human workers with screws up and causes a plane crash? Now you're talking about years of ongoing investigation, arguments/debates and pressure to bring the human workers back.

          • Anyone who is considering the replacement of tried-and-true safety-critical systems with AI is asking for criminal negligence charges at the very least when it fucks up.

            Nobody with any sanity whatsoever would honestly suggest that at this point.

        • I am very sure it will be around for at least 5 years, and can you say the same about any job in particular? We are nowhere near self driving in a car really becoming reliable in all kinds of weather conditions, so do you expect that they will have AI up to snuff for routing planes full of hundreds of people in all kinds of weather and situations? I really don't think so myself.

          For sure the demand will still be there, and it is a high rate burn out job. So if you can handle it and don't mind the stress

      • Not to mention, for many of these new recruits they don't even have a "traditional college degree" (whatever that particular phrase is supposed to mean). There's not a lot of routes to that degree of job security and, assuming you put in the work to rise through the ranks, that level of pay without having a college degree. I can definitely see why there'd be a great level of interest.

      • Re:They had to find suckers somewhere (Score:5, Insightful)

        by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Wednesday August 12, 2026 @02:58PM (#66285904)

        with federal benefits

        Is the federal benefit to not get paid because the Democrats won't pass a spending bill because the Republicans add riders on it that undermine the very foundations of democracy?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by whitroth ( 9367 )

        How many jobs have you had that had that kind of overtime?

        I worked for Ameritech (a Baby Bell) back in the mid-nineties. Let me tell you about the "regular" 10 hour days, and the far-too-frequent 11, 12, and 14 hour days. And the constant paging while at home. It got to the point that my late wife was only semi-joking about suing them for alienation of affection.

        AND that doesn't include "no, you cannot save and redo, if they crash, their LIVES are YOUR FAULT"...

      • I first off agree it is a super high stress job with long hours

        They've got long hours because there aren't enough controllers. If they can get the number of controllers up where it should be they can work 40 hours, or possibly even 30.

  • I am supposed to quit the country. Now i will have to leave by boat ! Well, at least less risk of TSA or ICE.

  • Yeah I can see that. The skill they're referring to is called ubermicro. If you have ubermicro you can definitely manage an ATC board.

  • But it actually seems like a good idea. Like a stopped clock, this administration is accidentally correct every once in a while, but it's definitely a lot less than twice a day.

    • When it comes to safety in air travel, the current administration has nowhere to go but up. [therevolvi...roject.org]

      Re the current plan to hire gamers to control air-traffic, I could say "let's wait and see" but I think that's reckless. These new candidates need to show they're fit for the job, perhaps more so than those who have been recruited hitherto using legacy criteria.

      In short, I don't share your optimism: I'm not yet convinced it's a good idea.

      • They aren't changing the criteria, they're encouraging gamers to apply. It's just a recruitment campaign targeting people with a demonstrated ability to hyperfocus on a monitor all day.

        • I know that. I'm skeptical of the pool from which they are drawing. You can't check for everything in the pre-screening and training. Higher standards at the start is a step towards greater safety.

  • I hope someone is letting them know this game is stuck in permadeath mode.

  • Will it work? Perhaps. Needs to be tested.

    The job is well paid hell. Too much stress. But part of that is excess overtime. If we can hire enough people the job could become better, if less paid due to less overtime.

  • "The graphics suck, and I can't eat Cheetohs at my desk. I'm going back to work at Best Buy."

    • You've hinted at the bigger problem. The US air control system is obsolete. Every time an upgrade has been funded, it has failed. And a sizable chunk (15%+) of the money became campaign contributions to members of Congress.

      Over in "communist" Canada, their ATC is an run by an NGO, which is funded by the airlines and private pilots.

      Maybe the USA should do the same.

       

      • Yep, the IRS upgrades and ATC ones allocated money always seems to get redirected. I just saw trump redirected almost a bil for WH renovations. Congress didn't fund it so the king opted to move other monies for some gold plating. https://www.yahoo.com/news/pol... [yahoo.com] Its almost like he thinks he is staying.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        You've hinted at the bigger problem. The US air control system is obsolete. Every time an upgrade has been funded, it has failed. And a sizable chunk (15%+) of the money became campaign contributions to members of Congress.

        Over in "communist" Canada, their ATC is an run by an NGO, which is funded by the airlines and private pilots.

        Maybe the USA should do the same.

        What do you mean? The greatest change in aviation history is happening right now - ADS-B. Granted, it's around 30 years old by now (it was trialed

  • Do you get to verbally abuse your opponents, err I mean passengers like they do on the net games ?

  • I can't wait for Rockstar Games to do the sound effects.

  • When you hobby becomes your job you might start liking your hobby less.

  • Is this recruitment or actual butts in chair placement? I think I read that ATC training washes a high number of the candidates. Even when they start, the job is highly overseen for the first months.

  • Someone needs to remind our new Federal Employees that rage quitting and throwing
    a tantrum when things don't go your way isn't conducive to a long career as an Air Traffic
    Controller.

  • Dude, how do I restart the scenario? (Score:3)

    by newbie_fantod ( 514871 ) on Wednesday August 12, 2026 @02:10PM (#66285816)

    Need to revert to the last save - cant find the button - TIA

  • For decades it seems like FAA has be

    It's pretty crazy to think of all the advancements in aviation technology over the decades are still then at mercy of a guy in a (figurative) tower, shooting off rapid fire directions over a shared radio frequency Radio channels being talked over, static, mistakes in delivery, let alone regional accents and international language. I don't know one thing about this other than as a frequent flyer and sometime viewer of VAS Aviation channel.

    But when I think of say aircra

    • As a retired pilot who keeps up with the industry I certainly agree that ATC needs an upgrade. But you may not recognize that ATC _has_ been receiving a whole host of upgrades over the years. Most of them are "under the hood" where they help the controllers (and thereby the pilots) and reduce some of the load. Even something as simple as automated airfield information (ATIS) is one less thing on a controller's plate. Collision avoidance systems, RNAV, . . . The list is long. There is much more still to be d

      • Appreciate the insight from an aviator. Agreed I still want a human in the tower (and two in the cockpit). In some ways your post reinforces what I am noting, namely that there have been a host of technological improvements in aircraft and ATC like GPS, TCAS, and the ones you listed above. But then those improvements are all pushed through the same bottleneck of one or two controllers managing hectic workload on a few common frequencies.

        A recent example of an 'unforced error' might be the tragedy Air C

  • US Hires Over 2,000 Video Gamers As Air Traffic Controllers

    Aren't many (most?) video games about destroying things? How much of their training will be about *not* crashing or shooting down planes? I guess it could work if scores are based on successful landings and course changes? Not as exciting, but maybe just as satisfying? They will know that there's no save, restore or reset functions - right? :-)

  • I don't see the intersection here. The only thing the gamers have going for them is that they'll pay attention to something for hours/sometimes days before giving up because they like it and they think it's fun. Looking at radar screens and directing traffic over the radio doesn't seem like a similar job.
    What's more likely is they'll get distracted by games they smuggle into the ATC tower. Gamers gonna game.

  • 'Remember, Pilots - The Ground is "Down". Now, on my mark, everybody land... Go!'

  • "How did you get hired?"
    "I was top at Fortnite. You?"
    "Combat flight sims."

    "Damn, two Boeings just crashed over an oil refinery on city limits and took out half the city."
    "Did you remember to save your position beforehand?"
    "Yeah."
    "The reload and continue from there. No-one will notice."

    I love computer games. I have XPlane 12 and many scenery packs. I rank well on Elite:Dangerous. From the sounds of it, the FAA would see me as over-qualified. In reality? There's no way in hell I'd be taking those kinds of ris

  • Anyone that plays starcraft or similar, or that plays a healer in any MMORPG, should have NO trouble juggling planes.

  • Another obvious joke would have been from the "What could possibly go wrong?" angle.

    My actual feelings are mixed, but that got me to think of another possible angle for humor. The problem is that I don't know much about the current or even recent generations of video games, so I can't name the names of the games NOT to recruit from. I'm pretty sure there are games that involve lots of mayhem and Captain Chaos, Master of Mayhem, is NOT someone I want in charge of anything involving a plane (or bus or bicycle

  • New idea about how to fix the moderation on Slashdot! Use AI. Can't be worse than the current moderation system, but AI is so trendy that maybe the latest owners (whoever they are, or perhaps incorrectly assuming someone still owns this mess) will eagerly embrace the AI.

    So the idea would be for an AImod (AI moderator) to scan the posts and suggest the most likely moderation. It could even be done as part of the preview process to give posters 'objective feedback' about how their comment sounds. Perhaps even

  • I predict a distinct change in the tone and content of ATC radio instructions. Use of the gamer word will skyrocket.

  • Imagine what will happen when they hit the elimination round. Your usable lives is how many planes are in a holding pattern. The goal is to be the last one with a plane to control. The tournament will be explosively entertaining!

  • To these new air traffic controllers. Congrats on being hired! Just remember one thing. Unlike playing a video game, there is not PAUSE button on the ATC screen, and most important, unlike a video game, if something doesn't go your way, you can toss your headset on the ground, get up and stomp off. LOL /s
  • Video games teach that one can just start over or revert to a previous save point after a failure. Air traffic control is a bit different. I'm not sure these candidates match the profile characteristics I would seek for such positions.

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