A global shortage of air traffic controllers is driving countries to recruit experienced personnel across borders, highlighting staffing gaps that are raising concerns over aviation safety and potential travel disruptions, aviation officials have said.
Countries including Australia, Canada and South Africa are competing to attract qualified controllers, with some relying on foreign recruits to fill vacancies even as their own experienced personnel are lured abroad.
A 2025 forecast by aviation training firm CAE estimates that the global aviation industry will need an additional 71,000 air traffic controllers by 2034.
The recruitment race reflects a wider challenge facing the aviation industry as it struggles to replace an ageing workforce and train enough controllers to meet growing demand. While recruiting experienced personnel from other countries may provide temporary relief, it does little to resolve the global shortage, particularly as training new controllers can take several years.
Staff shortages have contributed to flight disruptions in several countries, including Australia, the United States and Canada.
Controllers and union officials interviewed said better pay, improved working conditions and opportunities to continue working beyond retirement age in some countries were among the factors driving cross-border recruitment, according to Reuters.
Two people familiar with the matter said some air traffic controllers employed by Airservices Australia were moving to Qatar, which has recently advertised vacancies to attract experienced personnel.
“We are aware of dozens of ATCs (air traffic controllers) across multiple locations in Australia, including some in Sydney, who have either resigned from Airservices to work overseas, or are exploring the opportunity to do so,” said Scott Nugent, president of union Civil Air Australia.
One of the sources said most departing controllers were seeking better working conditions, particularly in areas such as fatigue management, leave entitlements, overtime and staffing levels.
Airservices Australia, however, said its national attrition rate among air traffic controllers remained within expected levels.
Airservices Australia said its national attrition rate among air traffic controllers remained within expected levels, while Qatar’s civil aviation authority did not respond to a request for comment.
Canada, which typically recruits only citizens and permanent residents as air traffic controllers, has also explored international recruitment to address staffing needs.
NAV CANADA, the country’s air navigation service provider, said it recently engaged an external recruitment firm in what it described as a “limited, targeted measure” to attract eight foreign controllers willing to relocate to Canada.
South Africa, meanwhile, is seeking to avoid worsening staffing shortages in other countries through its recruitment efforts. The country’s Air Traffic and Navigation Services agency has introduced limits on the number of controllers it recruits from individual countries after losing 28 personnel within an eight-month period between 2024 and 2025.
“We don’t want to do that to any one specific country,” said Josia Manyakoana, chief operating officer at Air Traffic and Navigation Services.
New Zealand’s air navigation agency has also called for greater cooperation among service providers to address staffing shortages, warning against simply shifting the problem from one organisation to another.
Meanwhile, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, a global trade association representing air traffic control providers, is exploring ways to share training costs between controllers’ current employers and the organisations responsible for their initial training.
“The (country) that trains a controller usually carries the full cost, even if that controller later moves on,” a CANSO spokesperson said. “We’re aware that several of our members have been concerned about losing controllers they trained at their own expense.”
However, some countries are exploring alternative ways to increase the global supply of air traffic controllers. Indonesia, which has a surplus of trained personnel, has agreed to send five controllers to Australia next year, where they will work until 2030.
“Australia needs more controllers and we have a surplus at the moment,” AirNav Indonesia Director of Operations Setio Anggoro said. “We are ready to export our controllers.”
Aviation officials say addressing the global shortage will require more than cross-border recruitment, stressing the need for countries to increase training capacity and improve staff retention.
