President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, announced on social media that his agency is looking for people to join the air traffic control workforce.
Duffy wrote on X: “We need the best and brightest in our airport towers.” He added, “Air traffic control is a great career with great pay and you don’t need a college degree to apply,” and “If you’re looking for an impactful career, consider joining our air traffic control workforce!”
As seen below, Duffy added an audio clip of an air traffic controller helping a passenger (who is not a pilot) land a plane after the pilot suffered a medical emergency and became “incoherent.”
Note: The passenger successfully landed the plane in Palm Beach, Florida in May 2022.
We need the best and brightest in our airport towers. @POTUS & I are committed to getting them the innovative equipment worthy of the greatest country in the world.
Air traffic control is a great career with great pay and you don’t need a college degree to apply. And as we build… pic.twitter.com/Vtbii7HCSj
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) July 7, 2025
Duffy added in the video that the Trump administration has “streamlined the hiring process and are giving them a pay raise.”
The DOT Secretary said, “You could be making up to $160,000 a year, just three years after graduating from the FAA Academy.”
Note: According to the FAA: “Entry-level applicants must complete required training courses and spend several months at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. After graduating the academy, individuals are placed in locations across the country and must gain 1-3 years on-the-job experience before becoming a certified professional controller. Controllers work full-time and some work additional hours. Many of our facilities operate continuously (24/7/365), where employees work day, evening and night shifts, along with weekends and holidays.”
The FAA recently raised starting salaries for trainees from $17.61/hr. to $22.61/hr. (Health benefits, food and housing allowances are included while training at the Academy.)
Critics of the Trump administration are responding to Duffy’s recruiting effort with reminders that DOGE fired several hundred Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees in February “without cause nor based on performance or conduct,” according to David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union.
While Duffy promotes efforts to replace old communications and tracking equipment with a modern system, a three-year plan, he will do so “without key career FAA leaders, who are departing en masse in personnel cuts engineered by Elon Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service.”