My son used to play a fair amount of video games (yes, we tried to limit it, but it’s an uphill battle). I always maintained, however, that despite many parents frowning on gaming, it can actually be beneficial if, like anything, it’s used in moderation.
I thought it helped his reflexes in sports, and I suspected that driving would come very easily to him because he’d had plenty of virtual practice at it. Lo and behold, once he got behind the wheel, he was successfully navigating the insane freeways of Los Angeles in no time.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had similar thoughts, and in April, as our Ward Clark reported, the Federal Aviation Administration announced an air traffic controller hiring effort aimed at the console crowd.
That was then, this is now:
🚨 GAME CHANGER
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) August 9, 2026
In April, we launched a NEW CAMPAIGN to recruit video gamers as air traffic controllers — and supercharged the entire hiring process to get the BEST & BRIGHTEST in faster. The results are HISTORIC ✈️
✅ 94% of hiring goal met — fastest time ever to reach target… pic.twitter.com/gN3OGmEIBB
🚨 GAME CHANGER
In April, we launched a NEW CAMPAIGN to recruit video gamers as air traffic controllers — and supercharged the entire hiring process to get the BEST & BRIGHTEST in faster. The results are HISTORIC ✈️
✅ 94% of hiring goal met — fastest time ever to reach target
✅ 2,000+ hired — the most in a single year
✅ 2,000+ “best & brightest” candidates in the pipeline — reaching the Academy quicker than any class before them, thanks to the most streamlined hiring process
We’re building the strongest, sharpest workforce in aviation history ✈️
RELATED: Gamers Hit Record 12K New ATC Job Apps: FAA Just Won the Boss Fight
It's not just the FAA that has its eyes on the Masters of the Controller; other government departments are also interested in their services:
In recent years, video gamers have emerged as a target demographic for recruiters at a number of federal agencies, including the military and the Department of Homeland Security. They are welcomed for their hand-eye coordination, quick decision-making in complex environments and ability to remain focused on screens for hours on end.
“To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. Focusing recruiting efforts on gamers, he added, “taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller.”
The FAA maintains that gamers often "demonstrated high cognitive functions," "multitasking," and "strategy and problem-solving" abilities.
In another lifetime, I once went on a reality show where they didn’t tell me in advance what my task was going to be. It turned out that I had to land a plane, and they locked me in my hotel room for a night while I practiced on Microsoft Flight Simulator. It was super-windy the next day — so much so that they almost called it off — but on my second attempt I successfully landed a little Cessna.
Obviously, were it not for my night of gaming, I wouldn’t have had a prayer.
The highlight was hearing Mike Rowe pronounce my name right when the show was broadcast. (For some reason, it’s not available to stream, but I’m sure I have the tape somewhere deep in my garage.)
Parents — be ready. It might not be long before you tell your kids to shut off the Xbox and they’ll reply, “But I’m training for a job. Why would you want me to stop that?”
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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