The US faces a critical shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers, causing summer travel delays. The FAA's Oklahoma City training facility, the sole training location, has a 35% dropout rate. To combat this, the FAA is implementing a mentoring program, streamlining the application process, and modernizing training with immersive simulators, reducing certification time by 27%. Despite these efforts, over 90% of US air traffic control towers remain understaffed, and new controllers require an additional two years of on-the-job training after initial completion.

Prepared by Christopher Adams and reviewed by editorial team.