Duffy to allow exemptions to extend retirement age for air traffic controllers

The US needs more air traffic controllers. These graduating students just got fast-tracked to enter the job market quicker

The United States aviation industry continues to grapple with the worst air traffic controller shortage in nearly 30 years as a recent spate of incidents has thrust the high-stress profession into the spotlight.

This is on Donald Trump

There is a reason why the mandatory retirement age for Air Traffic Controllers is 56. Being an air traffic controller is one of the most stressful occupations in the world. There are so many souls to take care of. Lives hang in the balance, and in this particular job, even one error could cost many…

Duffy to allow exemptions to extend retirement age for air traffic controllers

Editor’s note: The article has been updated to accurately reflect the process to extend the retirement age for air traffic controllers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he plans to allow exemptions for air traffic controllers that will enable them to increase their retirement age from 56 to 61 years old. During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the…

GATE selects Eurocontrol MUAC as training partner

The Eurocontrol Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) has appointed Denmark-based GATE Aviation Training to provide training for its student air traffic controllers (ATCOs). In line with the agreement, GATE will provide initial training to MUAC’s student ATCOs as its academy located near Copenhagen Airport for up to a seven-year period. Over 100 students are expected to partake in the training programme with the first intake due to commenc…

Duffy Will Allow Air Traffic Controllers to Work Past 56

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he will use authority given to him by Congress to allow air traffic controllers to continue working past the current mandatory retirement age of 56. In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Duffy told host Kristen Welker that he has the power to issue exemptions to air traffic controllers (ATCs) that permit them to continue working until they turn 61. When Welker asked Duffy if he would use that…

The US Government Tries to Fix Air Traffic Control… Again – Cranky Flier

I stopped counting long ago, but there have been many, many attempts to try to modernize the US’s air traffic control (ATC) system over the years. As The Air Current‘s Will Guisbond told us in last week’s The Air Show podcast, there was an article written back in 1996 on the subject that could have been written yesterday. But it had been pretty quiet on anything actually getting done on that front in recent years with the Department of Transport…