Elon Musk wants ‘top notch’ retired ATC to consider coming back to work

Elon Musk is calling on retired air traffic controllers to consider coming back to work. 

“There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so,” Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), posted on X.

Musk’s post comes after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he’s enlisting the tech billionaire and SpaceX engineers to take a deeper look at the agency, which has been grappling with staffing shortages. However, Duffy, in particular, wants Musk to look into the alleged “outdated” internet and digital program infrastructures. 

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Vice President JD Vance echoed similar concerns, saying that U.S. air traffic control systems are outdated and must be upgraded.

There has been growing concern about a shortage of air traffic controllers due to the growing number of close calls being reported. Despite staffing concerns, the Trump administration recently moved to lay off hundreds of FAA employees in an effort to curtail federal spending. Some critics fear this could exacerbate the recent aviation incidents, but Duffy placed blame for these incidents on the lack of technological advancements.

Elon Musk at the U.S. Capitol after a meeting with Sen. John Thune to discuss the Department of Government Efficiency, on Dec. 5, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc via / Getty Images)

Last week, Duffy asked for Musk’s help in light of a U.S. Army Black Hawk colliding with an American Airlines regional jet on Jan. 29 in what was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years. Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River after the collision. Sixty-seven people were killed.  

This incident served as “a heartbreaking wake-up call that improvements must be made,” Duffy previously wrote on X. 

There have been several close calls since the beginning of the year, including an incident on Tuesday when a Southwest Airlines jet was forced to perform a go-around maneuver after a private business jet taxied onto the same runway.

Sean Duffy is sworn in as transportation secretary in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, 2025. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg  / Getty Images)

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Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau told employees that the DOGE team would be visiting more FAA facilities – including the FAA’s headquarters – after Monday stops at the Air Traffic Control Command Center and Potomac TRACON in Warrenton, Virginia, Reuters reported.

Following a visit to an FAA facility himself, Duffy expressed his surprise upon learning that the FAA uses a seemingly “unreliable” internet server and even runs some programs on floppy disks.

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A Transportation Department spokesperson previously told FOX Business in a statement that the FAA is continuing to hire and onboard “air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them.” The spokesperson also said that the “agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions.”

FOX Business’ Kristen Altus contributed to this report.