The US is struggling to hire air traffic controllers. A surprising age limit and grueling schedules could fuel the problem

Millions of travelers rely on air traffic controllers every day to orchestrate high-speed maneuvers and help prevent planes from crashing. But a critical shortage has forced many to work “six days a week, 10 hours a day – for years at a time.”

Every day, millions of travelers’ lives are literally up in the air, relying on the acuity of air traffic controllers to orchestrate high-speed maneuvers and help prevent aircraft from crashing. But the shortage of air traffic controllers is nearly the worst in 30 years, said the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents 10,800 certified ATCs across the country. The shortfall has forced many to work “six days a week, 10 hours a day – for years at a time,” union President Nick Daniels testified at a House subcommittee hearing this week. The US needs more than 3,000 new air traffic controllers to reach adequate staffing, he said. And recent, high-profile incidents have highlighted the scarcity and workload of exhausted air traffic controllers. “What is new – or more problematic or more common now – is the use of overtime,” said Michael McCormick, a professor and air traffic management coordinator at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “I would say your larger facilities are probably more problematic in use of overtime than the smaller facilities – just where you don’t want it the most.”