U.S. air traffic controllers are choosing to head to Australia in large numbers. Their departures appear to be accelerating as chronic staffing shortages and poor working conditions are compounded by recent unpaid work due to a federal government shutdown.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), air traffic controllers with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have recently been moving their jobs to Australia. Complaints have mounted that workloads are rising while pay is failing to keep up with inflation. With the impact of the record-long 43-day federal government shutdown forcing weeks of unpaid work, frustration appears to have peaked.
Observers say the poor system has also sapped their morale. For example, in January, a military helicopter and a passenger plane collided at Ronald Reagan Airport, killing 67 people. It later emerged that the hotline (emergency contact line) between the airport and the Ministry of National Defense had been down for three years and that only one person was staffing the control tower, igniting debate that the system needed an overhaul.
Even before this, the FAA had been struggling with chronic staffing shortages. The United States has more than 13,000 airports and operates a total of 313 control facilities. However, according to the New York Times (NYT), 91% (285) of them fall short of the FAA's recommended staffing levels, and some facilities are operating with 40% of positions unfilled.
To address this, the FAA plans to pay additional allowances to controllers set to retire this year to encourage them to stay, raise starting pay for entry-level controllers, and expand enrollment at controller training institutions. An FAA Spokesperson said, "In this fiscal year, we hired 2,026 new controllers, bringing total staffing to 13,000," and dismissed concerns by adding, "Departures to certain regions or employers are a very small share in overall terms."
Voices from the field, however, are more dire. According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the national control system requires about 3,800 additional personnel, and more than 41% of all controllers are working 10 hours a day, six days a week, to fill the gaps. The union said, "Controllers and aviation safety personnel have become victims of congressional infighting."
Australia, by contrast, is touting a relatively stable work environment as it moves to recruit overseas controllers. Airservices Australia, the government aviation traffic management agency, operates 29 control towers nationwide and since September last year opened its doors for controllers living overseas to apply. Of the 100 controllers slated for hiring in 2026, 36 are expected to be from the United States.
Austin Bruis, who worked at the FAA control facility in Elgin, Illinois, resigned in September last year and chose to move to Australia. His annual salary is 206,000 Australian dollars (about $137,000), lower than his previous salary ($145,000), but observers say his quality of life has greatly improved.
Bruis said, "Working 60 hours a week with a rattler schedule, where my start and end times changed every day, was miserable," adding, "Unlike the United States, where days off are assigned by seniority, Australia guarantees a certain number of weekend days off each year, which is also a plus."
Chris Dickinson, a 14-year U.S. controller working in Melbourne, said, "You can easily find former FAA controllers who moved to Australia for similar reasons," and asserted, "I am convinced the FAA will always be short-staffed. That's why I can go back to the United States anytime I want."