The new secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, appeared to walk back an enticement to retire, saying F.A.A. safety workers were exempt from the offer for federal workers.

Even before the plane crash near D.C., air traffic control offices were in a state of Trumpian despair, sources say.

Just a day before a deadly midair collision at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., employees at the Federal Aviation Administration were sent an offer to resign with eight months’

The U.S. air traffic control system has been stretched nearly to its breaking point by a decades-long staffing shortage. It's causing problems not just for the air traffic controllers that remain but the flying public at large.

Persistent staff shortages have raised safety concerns. At many facilities, staffing is so low that at least a quarter of the work force is missing.

The staffing numbers from 2023, the most recent year made available by the Federal Aviation Administration, show the airport is above the staffing standard and just below the optimal staffing level.

The FAA has previously said it is 3,000 controllers behind staffing targets. A union representing controllers said there are about 10,800 certified controllers -- about the same a

The air traffic controllers union had asked for clarification on whether members were eligible for the federal buyout and only received confirmation from a report on CNN.

The offer sent to federal employees by the Trump administration encouraging them to resign from their jobs is not applicable to air traffic controllers.