Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has launched a new cash incentive program aimed at recruiting and retaining air traffic controllers, he announced Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will give $5,000 bonuses to all academy graduates and new hires that complete initial qualification training. Academy graduates assigned to 13 facilities that have faced additional hiring struggles will get $10,000.
Additionally, certified professional controllers who are younger than 56 and opt not to retire when eligible will receive bonuses equal to 20 percent of their basic pay for each year they continue to work.
The new incentives are being offered for a limited time, but an FAA spokesman told The Hill that a formal timeframe has not been set.
"In our first 100 days, this administration has made more progress on addressing the air traffic controller shortage than the last one did in four years," Duffy said in a statement. "But there's more work to be done to secure our skies."
Duffy announced in February that he was looking for ways to "supercharge" staffing, noting the shortages he saw just weeks after the Senate confirmed him for the top transportation role.
“This staffing shortage has been a known challenge for over a decade, and this administration is committed to solving it,” Duffy said at the time.
Prospective entry-level controllers must pass an assessment test and spend several months at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.
Acting FAA administrator Chris Rocheleau said Thursday that the administration is on track to hire at least 2,000 controllers this year after it announced a 30 percent pay increase for trainees and began aggressive recruitment efforts in March.
"The supercharge hiring initiative is working," he said. "“Less than 45 days after the announcement closed, one of the first applicants already has an Academy start date in early June."
Among the efforts Duffy announced in late February, the FAA also has streamlined its qualifying process to get candidates enrolled in the Academy faster and opened up opportunities for additional instructors.
National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Nick Daniels has repeatedly raised concerns about the industry's staffing shortage amid reports of crashes and near misses at airports, including the deadly midair collision near Reagan Washington National Airport in late January.
Daniels told lawmakers during a congressional hearing in March that staffing issues also hinder the ability to train existing controllers to keep with advanced technology.
"Controller staffing and infrastructure progress are inextricably linked," he said. "A properly staffed workforce of fully certified controllers is needed for the FAA to successfully develop, test, deploy and train the workforce on new technology and modernization programs on time and under budget."
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