🚨 2,000+ Gamers Hired for AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL@SecDuffy: “They multitask. They have to think on their feet. They work with their hands and their eyes, and they’re making great controllers… We had 14,000 applicants, 8,000 qualified. We were getting the best and the brightest.” pic.twitter.com/C0U6eRj0IC
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) August 14, 2026
August 14, 2026
"If you can merge gaming with aviation, why not?"
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36 comments:
This goes back to the primordial beginnings of computer games. Computer culture was dominated by STEM workers and researchers until the Windows 95 era -- pilots were there long before.
An early computer game (1982) was Microsoft Flight Simulator -- a technical niche product used for pilot learning and practice. People then attached real airplane joysticks and control yokes, plus used dashboard with gauges. Later, both aircraft and driving games adopted real vehicle seats, forced feedback (shaking/movement), and wide wrap-around displays.
There was a famous case of a combat jet game player passing the military pilot test circa the 1990s. It caused a shift in training and recruiting back then.
When drones went mainstream 10 to 15 years ago, the military first hired experienced pilots and simulated real aircraft. They then shifted to game players and systems. As modern drones depend on computer, phone, or tablet interfaces, the gap between real flying and games is small to nil.
Modern aircraft make heavy use of computer interfaces, so there's a strong overlap between games, simulators, and the real thing. Air traffic control interfaces with these devices -- a big computer network in the sky.
It’s a brilliant idea to staff 2000 empty positions but it misses the actual story behind the story. The reason we were so short staffed started under Obama with (what else) a DEI push that REWARDED applicants who performed poorly at science and history. Then Buttigieg did absolutely nothing for four years except talk about racist roads and waste $2B with zero to show for it.
Prior to this great idea. Secretary Duffy implemented new radar systems that track ground vehicles on the tarmac as well as aircraft so that ATC officers can “see” all relevant traffic even in severe weather and fog. This makes two excellent advancements for airport safety.
This is a no brainer and should have been done long ago.
I loved Microsoft Flight Simulator from the time it first came out. I became proficient enough that I was convinced I could land a jet liner, with help, if needed. Realistic? No, but the simulators were sophisticated and realistic enough, even back in the old days.
Why didn’t Pete think of this to fix the shortage?
We’ve been told he’s so, so smart. And Duffy? A former Fox News host married to another Fox News host.
I wish my son would consider this.
The lady talking head on the left was unfortunately frozen in an hilarious “blah-blah-blah” pose.
@Mike (MJB Wolf): "The reason we were so short staffed started under Obama with (what else) a DEI push that REWARDED applicants who performed poorly at science and history."
@Dave Begley: "Why didn’t Pete think of this to fix the shortage?"
Air traffic control has long been the ultimate, obvious failure of DEI/Equity job emplacement programs. You cannot have a career coach, and you cannot fake it until you make it.
Acceptable performance follows from fast, accurate, poised, and controlled cognitive processing (~~general intelligence = IQ). One must perform complex calculations under pressure, and keep a bunch of other aircraft in mind at once. As such, the brain must function exceptionally well and standard retirement age is just 56.
Obama and Biden tried and tried and tried and tried to break the "proof is in the pudding" performance criteria and the dominance of White (and potentially Asian) men in this career. They failed roundly, and thereby did not hire anyone, and thereby 67 people died over the Potomac in 2025.
While Black and Hispanic guys play plenty of computer and video games...they haven't made the cut as often....
Duffy has quite the solid background, with many accomplishments prior to joining Fox. He's got substance to go with his flash. I wish him success in this.
I suppose the headline is amusing to some but its hard to imagine a background better suited for the skill set. Maybe those old time plate spinners?
I’m surprised an air traffic controller game never caught on. Not as glamorous as gta I suppose…
Surprised the left pounces on his brief tenure on Fox Business Network (co-hosted with Dagen McDowell) when they could call him a contestant on MTV’s The Real World, which is where he met his wife. Kinda weird how many former MTV personalities are or were Fox contributors.
@rehajm: "I’m surprised an air traffic controller game never caught on. Not as glamorous as gta I suppose…"
There are plenty of simulation, "god games," and real-time strategy games that are not unlike air traffic control. But, they tend to extend beyond the narrow (repetitive) nature of running an airport into creativity or combat. See Sim City, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Warcraft, Command & Conquer and many more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_strategy_game
There are a few colleges with ATC programs, but their highly qualified graduates were turned down during the Biden years because they were too white and too male.
No they met on road rules
My only concern is ATC is not competitive, which is to say you don’t try to get a high score. That said, Enigma’s first post covers quite a bit of history, and it has only been relatively recently that games like MS Flight Simulator added stuff like racing. People who play those games want authenticity and challenge. As for good ATC games: https://www.atcsuite.com/
Ah. Road Rules All-Stars in fact. They were on separate seasons of Real World. Good catch Narciso.
Actually Leland, ATC operators aim for 100% safety records so whether the “game” does or not life tends to keep score somehow.
…there’s a pilot in our family now so YouTube feeds me lots of ‘here’s what happened in the fatal air crash’ videos. This week I got a couple of the ATC recordings from 9/11. How do I get the cat videos back?
I watched a limited series a few years ago, I think on Amazon, about the famous 24 hour auto race at LeMans. One of the teams, Nissan, was running an experiment. All their drivers that year were young gamers who played driving games. None of their drivers had actual racing experience or had even ever been in a race until they were recruited for the team. They did pretty good.
"rehajm said...
I’m surprised an air traffic controller game never caught on. Not as glamorous as gta I suppose…"
Many games include a certain amount of violence and destruction. I enjoy them as therapeutic, killing pixels instead of people. My homicide-free streak remains intact.
But simulation games like the old Sim City, The Sims, etc., are a different beast. Trying to keep the simulation running without things breaking down can be hard. That's probably closer to an air traffic controller's screen, where attention to detail and situational awareness are crucial. Many of the same traits that make a good gamer would probably make a good air traffic controller as well, so this sounds like a good idea.
I think it's this one.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6628364/
Pushing tin is no game, but I can think of worse choices than compulsive gamers.
The Nissan program was called GT Academy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GT_Academy
What amused me most about the video segment was how much the young video gamer nerds being interviewed appeared alike, regardless of race and sex, in an endearing way.
Dave Begley said...
Why didn’t Pete think of this to fix the shortage?
Because Democrats think of problems as tribal patronage opportunities instead of societal benefit and functioning systems.
"The scout said they showed a lot of promise."
"They brought their fucking toys with them!"
Flight sim is a great hobby for anyone interested in aviation but for whom becoming a pilot IRL is out of reach. I was into X-Plane (rival to the Microsoft product) for a long time.
This is a ballsy move open to a lot of ridicule. Of course ATC a game, RSM. It's merely a game with real life permanent consequences. Everything is a game. That's why game theory is so successful in so many aspects of real life.
It's also an art. To say that it isn't competitive means that you don't know what it means to be competitive. It's not just 100% safety. It's also avoiding near misses avoiding clogging up the system via inappropriate spacing and putting the wrong aircraft in the wrong spot. And being efficient and effective on the radio. There are a Jillian ways to be better than the guys next to you.
@RSM and Howard:
Per my professional experience related to this, developing a 'sim' game is an iterative, grounded process that invovles real life machines, professionals, and digital modeling. The designers try out real guns to assess recoil and delays required between shots, they drive real cars to get a feel for tire traction, acceleration, and braking, and they fly real aircraft to understand how they perform too.
Some 'sim' games are built and sold to pros in niche industries rather than general public. Sim City, for example, developed a presence in warehouse/operations/logistics management training.
All the semi-realistic vehicle and combat games must be grounded in physics or they come across as very fake. For example, racing and combat games are notorious for "rubber banding" whereby all the competitors perform 'as well' as the player even when the player is doing well or struggling. This led to a more realistic human-vs-human online competitive culture (but there's a lot of cheating there too).
Thanks, Enigma. Nothing substitutes real life but simulators are extremely powerful tools.
Back in the late '90s when I was getting my single engine land, I use Microsoft flight simulator as supplemental to real flight time. I would always fly cross-country flights on the simulator before I'd actually do them IRL. It really helped with dialing in the vlrs and also because this was in central California with lots of mountains around you would identify particular geographic features that you could walk in on as well as the road layouts etc. Very early in my training. Before I soloed I used it focus on the site picture on final approach which was instrumental in learning how to grease The landing.
"My only concern is ATC is not competitive, which is to say you don’t try to get a high score."
Starting salary is $160K with federal benefits. Can go up to $225K with incentives. Seems competitive enough.
“Controllers”
Trump heard about gamers using controllers and thinks it’s the same as being a controller.
Similar to how he thinks people seeking asylum come from an asylum.
@IEE: And Clinton made a fool of himself in front of the whole country by ignorantly criticizing research of "stress in plants."
Politicians ain't scientists or tech people in general...
Hey, why not? We have a Secretary of Defense who was a co-host of FOX News's Fox & Friends Weekend.
I don’t have an issue with them learning to be ATCs. Everyone has to start somewhere and they have a skill set that is conducive to the job. However, I do have concerns about their ability to manage stress, their mental health, and their ability to function in a highly regulated environment.
Ganing criteria can be used to increase safety or to increase traffic flow at the same safety level.
The Trump administration is attempting to make air travel safer by hiring an adequate number of controllers to fill the spots left vacant by the prior administration, who was more concerned about the color of an applicant's skin than flight safety.
And leftards find reasons to complain.
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