How the FAA's gaming pitch drew a record 12,350 applications in a single hiring window The United States Federal Aviation Administration has spent the better part of a decade wrestling with a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers. This month, it tried something unorthodox: it asked video gamers to step up. The response was overwhelming. On 17 April 2026, the FAA opened its annual hiring window for trainee air traffic controllers with a recruitment campaign built around

There is a line buried in airline annual reports that tends to get overlooked in good times. Fuel costs are, the reports note, "extremely volatile and unpredictable, and even a small change in market fuel prices can significantly affect profitability." Southwest Airlines wrote that in its 2025 filing. Weeks later, it became the understatement of the year. When the US and Israel struck Iran on 28 February 2026, the airline industry's most intractable cost problem moved from ch

On 26 March 2026, United Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) announced a tentative agreement covering approximately 30,000 cabin crew members. On paper, it is a landmark deal. The airline says it will make its flight attendants the best-paid in the American airline industry, with top hourly wages reaching $100 by the end of the contract's five-year term and immediate pay increases kicking in the moment ratification is confirmed. The total package is su

The framework for a safer American airspace exists on paper. The politics of building it remain, for now, one vote short. Sixty-seven people died when an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided over the Potomac River in January 2025. Fourteen months later, the legislation designed to prevent it happening again has stalled in the House, defeated not by opposition, but by a last-minute Pentagon withdrawal that cost supporters the two-thirds maj

When 71% of United Airlines flight attendants rejected their tentative contract in July, they sent a clear message: a 27% pay increase doesn't cut it when you've lost 25% of your purchasing power to inflation over five years of working without a raise. Now United flight attendants are discovering what happens when you vote "no" and send negotiators back to the table. Federal mediation talks between United Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) took an une

As we close out 2025, it's been an extraordinary year in aviation. From historic aircraft orders and supersonic breakthroughs to regulatory reforms and sustainability milestones, the industry has witnessed remarkable developments across commercial, general, and advanced aviation. Whether you're an aviation professional, enthusiast, or frequent flyer, this Altitude quiz will test how closely you've followed the year's biggest stories. Pour yourself a festive drink, settle in,