The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is facing a new obstacle in its effort to address the nation’s air traffic controller shortage. While the agency’s “hiring supercharge” campaign has attracted thousands of recruits, the initiative has now run into a major snag: there aren’t enough instructors to train them.

Industry experts say the shortage of qualified trainers risks slowing down the onboarding process just as airlines and passengers grapple with delays, congestion, and safety concerns. Training air traffic controllers is a highly specialized process that can take years, and without enough instructors, the FAA’s push to rapidly expand the workforce may struggle to deliver results.

The FAA has long faced criticism for not anticipating the workforce crunch, which worsened during the pandemic as many veteran controllers retired. Now, while the agency is successfully drawing interest from job seekers, it must find a way to expand training capacity to ensure the recruits are ready to manage the nation’s busy skies.