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Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday his plan to “supercharge” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s air traffic controllers after numerous fatal plane crashes over the last two months.
The FAA will be “streamlining” its eight-step hiring process into a five-step process, with hopes it will accelerate the time to hire for “critical positions,” according to Duffy, who shared the announcement in a post on X.
The protocol change will shave more than four months off the old process, he said.
In addition, the agency will be “raising starting salaries by nearly 30%” for those in training as an incentive to apply.
President Donald Trump listens as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
“We want the best and brightest to get expedited entry into the academy,” Duffy wrote in the post. “This administration is committed to solving the air traffic control shortage that has existed for too long.”
The FAA imposes a mandatory retirement age of 55 for air traffic controllers, contributing to a high turnover rate, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans to “supercharge” the FAA with a streamlined hiring process for air traffic controllers. (Getty Images)
Duffy noted the FAA’s training academy also slowed during COVID-19, with small class sizes delaying the process.
While more than 50,000 people work at the FAA, President Donald Trump announced recent cuts that will trim 300 non-critical workers from the force.
Duffy’s new policy comes after numerous aviation disasters in the U.S. over the past few months, including the midair collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter with a commercial passenger plane in Washington, D.C., which claimed the lives of all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.
Just days after the D.C. crash, which was the country’s deadliest aviation mishap in more than 20 years, a medevac plane plummeted into a Philadelphia street, killing all six on board and one person on the ground.
Emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after crashing with an Army Black Hawk helicopter Jan. 29. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
More disasters followed, with an Alaska crash killing 10 and an Arizona crash killing one.
In neighboring Canada, 21 people were injured when a Delta plane erupted in flames after overturning during a crash landing at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Feb. 17.
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Still, the DOT continues to push the message that “flying remains the safest way to travel.”
Duffy said he is “committed to restoring the FAA’s mission to safety” and hopes “more great candidates” will join the agency.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
