The Federal Aviation Administration is putting $26 million toward aviation workforce development—covering mechanics, technicians, pilots, and air traffic controllers. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy made the announcement on June 10, 2026, as the agency grapples with a chronic shortage of roughly 3,000 certified professional controllers and mounting pressure for skilled workers.
The money splits down the middle: $13 million for pilot and drone operator training, $13 million for aviation maintenance and technical worker programs. It’s nearly double the $1.69 million handed out to 460 recipients in fiscal year 2024—a reflection of just how strained the system has become, with more than 45,000 flights operating under air traffic control supervision every single day.
Grants max out at $1 million per recipient per fiscal year. Schools, aviation organizations, nonprofits, air carriers, labor groups, and state and local governments can all apply. The money can fund apprenticeships, internships, student outreach, and training tools like flight simulators. Applicants have until June 18, 2026, to submit, with awards expected by September 30, 2026.
“At USDOT, we are investing in our aviation workforce to meet growing demand while maintaining the highest standards of safety,” Secretary Duffy said. “We have the safest airspace in the world thanks to our commitment to equipping our talented workforce with the tools and experience they need to take flight.”
Angelo State Joins E-CTI Program
Separately, the FAA tapped Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, as its 12th Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (E-CTI) school—and the ninth under Duffy’s watch. The announcement came on May 28, 2026. Texas now has its first E-CTI program.
Here’s what makes E-CTI different: graduates who pass their final performance and written assessments and earn FAA endorsement skip the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City entirely and head straight to on-site facility training. That speeds up the pipeline considerably. Regular AT-CTI programs still need FAA Academy time, though they dodge introductory coursework. E-CTI students must pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment test and meet medical and security requirements.
Angelo State also became the seventh school in the FAA’s Control Tower Operator Partnership program, creating pathways to contract tower positions across the country. Contract towers at smaller airfields struggle constantly with staffing—something lead instructor Mark Arzate flagged—and this partnership helps fix that.
The FAA currently has roughly 11,000 Certified Professional Controllers spread across more than 300 facilities. Another 4,000 are in the training pipeline, including 1,000 previously certified controllers training at new facilities. The agency hired 2,028 controllers in 2025 and has hit 67 percent of its 2,200-hire target for Fiscal Year 2026. It plans to bring on 2,300 controllers in 2027 and 2,400 in 2028.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency is “laser-focused on filling our FAA facilities with the best and brightest controllers. Expanding opportunities, like this one in Texas, help us strengthen our workforce and continue to protect the safety of the American travelling public.”
Addressing Chronic Staffing Constraints
This workforce push tackles a long-running problem. A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report found that between 2013 and 2023, the FAA hired just two-thirds of the personnel staffing models said it needed. By fiscal year 2024, nearly a third of ATC facilities were running at least 10 percent below target staffing levels.
Job stress, early retirements, and government shutdowns since 2019 created the controller crunch. The pilot shortage runs just as deep: the Air Line Pilots Association reports that approximately 3,000 currently employed pilots will hit mandatory retirement age each year from 2025 through 2029.
The FAA already bumped academy candidate starting salaries by 30 percent in February 2025 and trimmed the hiring process from eight steps to five. In May 2025, the FAA and National Air Traffic Controllers Association hammered out an agreement offering $5,000 bonuses for academy graduates and new hires finishing initial qualification. Hard-to-staff facilities—13 of them—get $10,000 bonuses. Controllers eligible for retirement who stay longer can collect 20 percent annual pay lump sums.
The E-CTI expansion continues. A USAJOBS direct hiring notice for E-CTI graduates opened through October 2, 2026.
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