The air traffic controllers union had asked for clarification on whether members were eligible for the federal buyout–and received confirmation days later from a report on CNN.
The tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., is one of many facilities ... [+]
On Jan. 28, 2 million full-time federal workers, including air traffic controllers, received the “Fork in the Road” email from the Trump administration offering a buyout that would allow them to remain on the payroll through Sept. 30 without having to work.
In response, Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), asked for clarity, saying the union had “not received a briefing” from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and expressing concern about “the potential effect to public safety” during a “universally recognized air traffic controller staffing shortage.”
The first public clarification came on Sunday, when Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “critical positions in regard to safety are not offered that early retirement” and air traffic controllers were exempted.
“I don't know if we knew before [Duffy] went on Tapper that we were exempt or not. This is the only public statement that [Duffy] has made on this,” a NATCA official told Forbes on Monday.
“It is possible some of the [federal] workers received the email before their role was carved out as an exception,” an official at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told Forbes in an email.
An updated factsheet on the OPM website says deferred resignation is not available to various groups, including “those in positions related to public safety.”
The decade-long shortage of air traffic controllers dogged the Obama, Biden and both Trump administrations. “It was finally addressed under the Biden administration in the last FAA reauthorization when initiatives were put in place for maximum hiring by the FAA for five years,” the NATCA official said. In 2024, the FAA met its hiring goal of more than 1,800 new ATCs, the largest number in nearly a decade. But there is a constant challenge to keep up with natural attrition, as ATC trainees spend up to six months at the FAA Academy followed by up to four years at an airport facility before becoming certified to operate air traffic. The FAA did not respond to a request for comment.
285 air traffic control facilities. That’s how many out of 313 in the United States are staffed below levels recommended by the FAA, The New York Times reported. More than 40% of U.S. air traffic controllers are working six-day weeks, 10 hours a day, according to NATCA.
"Our air traffic controllers-–they are stressed out, they are tapped out, they are overworked-–that’s no excuse, it’s just a reality of what we have in the system," Transportation Secretary Duffy told Fox News Sunday.
Senate Passes $105 Billion FAA Reauthorization Bill (Forbes)
FAA ‘Lacks A Plan’ For Air Traffic Control Shortage, Per Government Report (Forbes)