Leaving Early Is Common for Air Traffic Controllers. Now the FAA Is Cracking Down on ‘Early Shoves’
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is attempting to fire two air traffic controllers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport after both employees left work early, a move that officials say may have contributed to the Air Canada fire truck collision on March 22, which resulted in the killing both pilots.
According to CBS, the FAA is considering the action to be timecard fraud, giving the government agency reasonable grounds for firing. Per a report from Reuters, ATC employees told the outlet that the FAA is looking to crack down on “early shoves,” an industry term for controllers leaving before the end of their scheduled shift after completing their assigned duties.
However, rather than being an unusual move, experts say this practice is more widespread than consumers may realize.
“Leaving a little early when traffic is slow, and the end of a shift is approaching, is not particularly unusual. In this case, it is likely the controllers believed they would not be assigned to another position before their shifts ended,” Margaret Wallace, assistant professor of aviation management at Florida Institute of Technology, told Inc. “A supervisor would have made the decision to let them leave.”
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for the employees caught engaging in it.
A spokesperson for the FAA told Inc. that it is “committed to holding employees accountable,” and “will not compromise the safety or efficiency of the National Airspace System.”
Staffing shortages
The March incident at LaGuardia sparked a larger push from the FAA to increase staffing numbers to prevent future accidents.
According to Air Canada, the flight contained 76 passengers and crew; 39 were immediately sent to hospitals in the area with varying degrees of injuries, and 35 did not require immediate medical attention at the time and were able to depart for their final destination. The two pilots were said to have been at the start of their careers, according to the airline.
In a statement on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: “The vast majority of air traffic controllers are great patriots—they show up for work, complete their full shift, and come back and do it all again. But when a small percentage of individuals take advantage of the American taxpayer, unfairly add additional work to their fellow controllers, and impact the airspace—we have no choice but to act.”
The FAA has been actively seeking new members to become ATCs. Its current strategy seeks to expand the agency through aggressive and successful supercharged hiring; optimized controller efficiency; and a modernization of the National Airspace System. The plan has identified a full staffing target of 12,563 Certified Professional Controllers based on forecast demand. A number hopes to deliver on by the end of 2028.
The FAA confirmed to Inc. that the agency has hired more than 2,000 controllers in 2026, the most in a single year and 20 percent more than in 2024, and has met 94 percent of its hiring goal for the year.
Experts say such a move may be critical to ensuring the safety of future flights.
“What is important, however, is why staffing requirements exist in the first place: safety. Having all scheduled personnel available provides an additional layer of protection within the air traffic system,” Wallace said.
“The more trained eyes monitoring the operation—whether on radar displays or from the tower cab—the greater the opportunity to identify a developing problem before it becomes a serious incident. In aviation, redundancy matters, and adequate staffing is an important part of that safety net.”
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