Lawmakers from both parties pressed the Federal Aviation Administration and appropriations leaders during the FY2026 markup to accelerate hiring and training of air traffic controllers, citing staffing shortages and mandatory overtime that controllers have reported.

Representative Betty McCollum (D‑Minn.) offered a lengthy description of the problem and the subcommittee’s intent: “FAA currently has over 14,000 air traffic controllers…there is currently a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers, forcing the existing workforce to work 6 days a week…last year, air traffic controllers logged over 2,000,000 overtime hours,” she said while introducing a discussion‑stage amendment intended to expand the collegiate training initiative and strengthen partnership pipelines into the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.

McCollum called for accelerated use of the Enhanced Collegiate Training Initiative (ECTI) so qualified graduates can bypass portions of the Academy curriculum and begin facility‑level on‑the‑job training sooner. She also urged expanded cooperation with universities (University of North Dakota, among others), military training pipelines, and enhanced capacity at the FAA Academy. “Controllers are not being given…enough time to rest and recover,” she said in urging more resources for training and new hires.

Subcommittee Chair Trevor Womack (R‑Ark.) and the bill language already addressed controller staffing: Womack said the bill “provides $100,000,000 in this bill for the purposes of training and hiring air traffic controllers.” He pledged to work with members on pipeline expansion and described the training sequence, including “residency programs” to certify controllers at specific facilities.

Members emphasized two implementation priorities: (1) sustaining academy capacity and (2) expanding certified collegiate programs so graduates can move more rapidly into facility training without duplicative instruction. There was bipartisan agreement on urgency; where members diverged was on funding offsets and whether to use IIJA balances or new appropriations to expand training capacity.

Outcome: The McCollum amendment was offered as a point of discussion and withdrawn; subcommittee inclusion of $100 million for air traffic controller training remained in the bill. Members asked staff for a follow‑up briefing on Academy throughput, ECTI capacity, and vacancy backfill plans. The debate underscored bipartisan concern about controller shortages and set a clear follow‑up path for more detailed oversight and implementation review.

Ending: Members from both parties said they would press FAA and the Department of Transportation for regular updates and asked staff to evaluate whether additional targeted funds or policy fixes (ECTI expansion, use of military pipeline training credits) could safely accelerate hiring and reduce mandatory overtime for controllers.