Record Year for FAA Controller Hiring, With the Headcount Goal Still Ahead

The FAA has hired more air traffic controllers this year than in any earlier year on record. The agency was still several hundred controllers short of its own staffing goal as of August. For anyone who files IFR from Palm Beach, Teterboro or Aspen, controller numbers decide how smoothly a flight runs, so both figures matter. The record is real progress, and the gap is the part owners will keep watching.

With reporting from Flying.