The USA's Federal Aviation Administration has launched a campaign aimed at gamers. The FAA wants gamers to become air traffic controllers. There is a lack of controllers, so the government hopes skilled gamers could fill the 3,000 or so vacancies. The president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said: "Our union welcomes innovative approaches to expanding the candidate pool, including outreach to individuals with high-level skills, such as gamers." He added they must "maintain the rigorous standards required of this safety-critical profession".
The recruitment video has an Xbox logo on it. The tag line is aimed at gamers. It says: "You've been training for this… Become an air traffic controller. It's not a game. It's a career." The promo also includes the enticing salary of $155,000 a year. The US Transportation Secretary said the country needs "a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller". Many controllers have said gaming was a useful skill. They said it had "an influence on their ability to think quickly, stay focused, and manage complexity".
Try the same news story at these levels:
Air Traffic Controllers - Level 4 or Air Traffic Controllers - Level 6
Sources- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce84rvx0e6do
- https://abcnews.com/US/new-air-traffic-control-hiring-campaign-targets-gamers/story
- https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/10/us/faa-video-gamers-controllers
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