Play video games? You, too, could become an air traffic controller
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is touting the success of a campaign targeting video gamers to train as air traffic controllers.
August 11, 2026 / 4:55 PM EDT / CBS News
Video gamers are in demand to help patrol the nation's skies.
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.
The FAA hired more than 2,000 video gamers to train as air traffic controllers, meeting 94% of its hiring goal, according to the Transportation Department. Another 2,000-plus candidates are in the hiring pipeline, Duffy added.
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.