The FAA announced Monday that it is launching a pilot program to move some higher-activity federal contract towers into FAA operation. Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Montana and Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona are the first candidate facilities. Under the program, qualified contract tower controllers will transition with their facilities as they move to FAA staffing and management.
“This is another step the Trump Administration is taking to add qualified air traffic controllers to our workforce and ensure the safety and efficiency of our National Airspace System,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. “As air traffic demand continues to grow, this program will help ensure the FAA has the experienced workforce needed to manage complex operations at these towers.”
The program was required under Section 625 of the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act. The FAA said it plans to phase in the effort and estimates the pilot will take 29 to 44 months. Within six months of an operational transition at any tower that completes the program, the agency is required to send a safety analysis report to Congress.
Candidate Airports
The selected airports had both been cited by lawmakers as candidates for conversion. Montana Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy and Rep. Ryan Zinke urged the FAA in March to include Bozeman, which they described as Montana’s busiest commercial airport. Their office said the airport has faced tower staffing challenges in recent years and noted that the fiscal 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act included $6 million for the pilot program.
“As you know, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directs the FAA to establish the pilot program no later than 18 months after enactment and to prioritize contract towers that meet specific tower operations and passenger enplanement criteria,” Daines, Sheehy and Zinke wrote in the letter to the FAA. “The Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which was recently signed into law, provides $6 million for the pilot program as well. The FAA is now well positioned to move forward expeditiously in carrying out the program and we believe BZN should be one of the first airports selected for consideration.”
Rep. Greg Stanton’s office had also pointed to Mesa Gateway as a candidate for the program. In 2023, Stanton’s office said the airport was the busiest contract tower in the country and the 37th busiest tower overall. The office said staffing shortages had reduced tower operating hours by four hours a day, resulting in some aircraft arriving without tower guidance during those periods.
Staffing Context
According to a March 2026 DOT Office of Inspector General report, the FAA Contract Tower Program included 266 towers staffed by more than 1,500 controllers, but was about 18 percent understaffed as of April 2025.
Even so, staffing challenges are not limited contract towers. the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in January that the number of U.S. air traffic controllers had declined about 6 percent over the previous decade while flights using the system increased by about 10 percent.
On Monday, the FAA also released a revised controller workforce plan setting a full staffing target of 12,563 certified professional controllers, down from a previous target of 14,633 developed in 2023 by the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). The FAA said the plan keeps hiring targets of 2,200 new controllers in fiscal 2026, 2,300 in fiscal 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal 2028.
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