Air traffic controllers face mandatory retirement at the end of the month they turn 56, with an exemption available to allow exceptional performers to remain on the job until age 61, according to federal law.

There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2025

“There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so,” Musk said in a post on X.

The plea from Musk, who helms DOGE as an advisor to President Donald Trump, came the same day Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a hiring “supercharge” at the Federal Aviation Administration’s academy.

The effort emphasizes a merit-based process with increased starting salaries and simplifying the hiring process to five steps from the current eight-step process.

Duffy has also floated the idea of allowing air traffic controllers to remain on the job past the mandatory retirement age as a way to alleviate the shortage.

“This staffing shortage has been a known challenge for over a decade, and this administration is committed to solving it. The new streamlined hiring process is just the first step to deliver on President Trump’s agenda to prioritize the American people’s safety and modernize the federal government,” Duffy said in a statement about the effort.

MUSK PITCHES STARLINK FOR FAA USE OVER ‘DIRE’ STATE OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

While the FAA has seen job cuts due to DOGE efforts to reduce government waste, air traffic controllers were not affected because they are considered essential to the functions of the agency.

“The FAA alone has a staggering 45,000 employees. Less than 400 were let go, and they were all probationary, meaning they had been hired less than a year ago. Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go,” Duffy said in a post on X earlier this month.