HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Picture this: In your twenties, you are among less than 10% of the population that passes a medical examination, security investigation and multiple monthslong pre-employment tests for a job.

Then, you graduate from an academy for the job, spend two to three years training in a classroom and in the field and make the 1% of people who become certified to do the job – joining a group of just under 11,000 people who do the job you do in the United States.

You continue to pass proficiency training and get recertified every 20 to 30 months.

You work six-day shifts due to staffing shortages, maybe even night shifts, where you need to be alert and sharp at 3 a.m. or 3 p.m. You might be alone in a tower, but you’re constantly in close communication with a large team all trying to coordinate.

You face emergencies and high-pressure situations. Your industry has faced a staffing shortage for years. Your position might be combined with another, doubling your workload. You keep doing your job despite several reports showing it’s one of the most stressful jobs you can do.

Your profession is under intense scrutiny.

But, you can make six figures ($158,000 on average to be exact) if you keep at it long enough to get certified.

So, you do.

But, after all of this, you get an email from the federal government telling you to quit your job and get paid for eight months, or until you find a different job in the private sector.

But then, you get an email from your union saying you actually shouldn’t quit your job. And then the government agency that told you to quit clarifies you actually aren’t included in that buyout offer, so, essentially, "never mind," but the workers behind the scenes that make your job possible might be bought out. (As it stands, no one’s really sure).

Welcome to the life of an air traffic controller.

“The role and responsibility of air traffic controllers is very significant,” said Michael McCormick, the former vice president of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Organization. He held that position for 33 years, working in and managing every type of air traffic control facility, from towers and control centers here in the U.S. to oceanic centers and international centers.

McCormick was in charge of the shutdown of airspace after the 9/11 terror attacks.

“You have to maintain accurate situational awareness and constantly maintain that awareness, and then make split-second decisions on what you’re going to do with each and every aircraft, and then continue to monitor those aircraft to make sure they’re actually doing what you expect them to do,” he said. “Controllers take that responsibility very, very seriously. They know that there are people on board those aircraft, and they know they’re responsible for the safe arrival of those passengers.”

He says there’s historically been a shortage of air traffic controllers, but the most significant shortages have taken place within the past decade, and it’s for many reasons that don’t include a lack of people who want the six-figure paying job that doesn’t require a bachelor’s degree.

Every time the government shuts down (three times in the last decade), the FAA can’t hire any new controllers. And, many of them are retiring. Then, the pandemic upended it all, halting training and hiring.

But, it’s not like there’s a pool of certified controllers waiting to be hired. It takes up to five years to become fully certified, and only about 60% of trainees make the cut. The rest are either removed from the program, resign or keep training. That leaves a hiring gap of anywhere from a month to five years.

That process is rigorous, and the window to do it is relatively short. Trainees have to be 31 years old or younger when they accept a job. They must retire from their job when they turn 56.

They have to make it through the aptitude, drug, personality, medical, physical and psychological exams, the federal background check, the academy, and consistent training as they’re on the job.

Many people want to, but not many can. Less than 10% of the nation’s airport terminal towers have enough air traffic controllers.

“People do want to become controllers,” McCormick said. “There are always far more applicants for control positions than vacancies. So it provides the FAA with the opportunity to be highly selective because of that demand.”

President Donald Trump challenged the assertion that the FAA is selective, throwing the issue of the shortage back into the spotlight after an extremely rare fatal commercial plane collision in Washington, D.C. last week.

He provided no evidence to back up his claims that the crash was due to diversity hires but pointed to a class-action lawsuit by hundreds of people who claimed they applied to be controllers but were denied based on race.

The FAA contests the suit, arguing it’s based on a biographical assessment screening tool that was discontinued in 2018. The tool involved multiple-choice questions on topics like decision-making, handling pressure and risk management.

The agency maintains everyone has to pass the same rigorous testing to become certified, and it’s not based on their race.

The Biden administration made efforts to hire more controllers – bringing on 1,800 two years ago, 2,200 this year and 2,400 next year.

“You can see they’re working very hard to make up that difference,” McCormick said. “But that one to five-year training process means it’s going to take the controller that’s hired today one to five years before they become a fully certified controller.”

McCormick says it’s not the pay or the benefits or the stress of the job that’s causing the shortage.

It’s that the FAA is strict about who they hire and how much experience they need before they’re actually in charge of human lives – a stringent method we, as passengers, likely don’t want to change. It’s costly to train and pay controllers, and it’s time-consuming.

He says he’s optimistic that the FAA will, in time, fill the gap between what’s needed and what’s on board, which currently sits at about 3,000 to 4,000 controllers.

McCormick says the FAA launched the Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative, which allows seniors in college to take all the tests people take to get into the academy to fast-track them to a job. He says the quicker young folks can get a foot in the door, the quicker they can be hired and start training.

But McCormick does issue a word of caution about Trump’s threat to slash much of the federal government workforce, even if controllers aren’t included in that.

“It takes more than just 15,000 air traffic controllers to operate the air traffic system,” McCormick said. “It takes another 15,000 people to support the operation of that air traffic system. We need to be careful that we don’t get ourselves in a position where those supporting personnel are no longer available.

“That will impact the ability for the controllers to do their jobs.”