Air Traffic Controllers: Where Is the Rest of Your 3.8% Raise

Last Updated: September 13, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

Congress passed a 3.8% raise for air traffic controllers on April 30, 2026, backdated to January, and set aside $140 million to pay for it. As of September, controllers have received 1%. The other 2.8 points sit with one person, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, and the law that created the raise also gave him the discretion to hold it.

What Section 548 Says, in the Statute's Own Words

The provision lives in Division A, Title V, Section 548 of Public Law 119-86, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act for 2026, signed April 30, 2026. That bill ended the DHS funding lapse that ran from about February 14 to April 30, and Section 548 rode along with it.

The section does four things in one paragraph.

It appropriates $140,000,000 as an additional amount for FAA Operations, available through September 30, 2027.

It restricts the money: the Administrator "shall only use such amounts to provide a rate of pay increase for calendar year 2026 of 3.8 percent" for air traffic controllers as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2109(1)(A) and for supervisors and managers who manage air traffic but fall outside that definition.

It conditions the payment: the adjustment is "implemented for all such employees only to the extent the Administrator determines, in his sole discretion, that improvements in workforce scheduling, staffing utilization, or other operational efficiencies are achieved that contribute to addressing workforce shortfalls and enhancing aviation safety."

And it sets the effective date: "If the Administrator makes such determination, then such adjustment shall be effective the first pay period beginning after January 1, 2026."

Read the third clause slowly. The condition is not a formality that Congress expected to be waived. It is a determination that only the Administrator can make, on criteria only the Administrator judges, with no date by which he must decide. Congress funded the raise and handed FAA the key.

What Controllers Have Actually Received

Controllers have received the 1% that every federal civilian employee got in January 2026 under the governmentwide raise, and nothing beyond it.

Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin wrote to Bedford on September 4, 2026 counting 127 days since enactment with the 2.8-point differential unpaid. They quoted FAA's own 2026 to 2028 Workforce Plan back at him: chronic overtime drives burnout and attrition, and compensation drives retention.

FAA's response, given to CBS News, is that Congress set the conditions, not FAA, and that the agency "looks forward to talking with NATCA to review historic scheduling practices and identify opportunities to achieve more productive schedules." Bedford told the Washington Examiner in late August that the way to unlock the 2.8% runs through time on position: controllers average about four hours actively working traffic in an eight-hour shift, and FAA wants that above five.

NATCA's public line is careful. The union says it "continue[s] to advocate for meaningful improvements for controllers, including the pay parity wage increase passed by Congress, through ongoing engagement with the FAA." No grievance or lawsuit over the withheld raise had been publicly reported as of September 13.

The Withheld 2.8%, in Dollars

Controllers are not on the General Schedule. FAA pays them under its own system, with base pay set by facility level, plus locality and premium pay. So the table below uses three illustrative base-salary points rather than GS grades. The median controller salary nationally is in the $137,000 range per BLS occupational data, with senior controllers at the busiest facilities well above that.

Methodology note. Withheld amount = base × 0.028. Per pay period uses the standard 26-period annualization. The accrued column assumes the statutory effective date, the first pay period beginning after January 1, 2026, falls in early January and counts roughly 18 biweekly periods through September 13; the exact count depends on the FAA pay calendar. Locality and premium pay would raise the dollar figures further because the 3.8% applies to the base rate they are computed on. Rounded once at the end.

The accrued column keeps growing by the per-period figure every two weeks for as long as no determination is made. If Bedford makes it in December, a $130,000 controller would be owed close to the full $3,640 for the year in back pay. If he never makes it, the number is zero, and the $140 million stays available until September 30, 2027 and then lapses.

How Short-Staffed the System Is

The reason Congress attached a raise to a DHS bill in the first place is the staffing gap FAA documents in its own plan. The FAA Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan for 2026 to 2028 sets a nationwide target of 12,563 Certified Professional Controllers. Reporting on the plan put the certified count at roughly 10,800 to 11,000 as of mid-2026.

The senators also note that the $140 million is about 1% of the $12.5 billion Congress has provided for the new air traffic control system. That is their arithmetic, not ours, but the scale comparison is fair: the raise is small next to the hardware budget it sits beside.

What a Controller Can Actually Do

The determination belongs to the Administrator and nothing in Section 548 lets an employee force it. That leaves four practical moves.

Know the number you are owed. Compute your own base × 0.028, then multiply by the pay periods since January. That figure belongs in any conversation with your facility rep, and it is the amount of back pay a determination would trigger.

Track the scheduling talks through NATCA. The condition is about scheduling and time on position. Whatever FAA and NATCA agree to on schedules is the thing that unlocks the money, so the union's bargaining updates are the signal to watch, not FAA press releases.

Watch for the determination itself. It is an administrative finding, and it would come with an effective date and a back-pay period. If you separate before it is made, ask HR in writing whether the retroactive adjustment reaches separated employees for the period they worked.

Keep the record. Your SF-50s and leave and earnings statements for 2026 establish the base rate the 2.8% would apply to. If the determination lands late, that paperwork is what the back-pay computation runs on.

For the broader federal workforce the comparison is stark in the other direction: every GS employee got 1% in 2026 and 0% for 2027, with no $140 million waiting in an account. Controllers have a funded raise that is not being paid. GS employees have no raise to wait for. The law enforcement 3.8% for 2027 is the one other carve-out in play, and it was set by the pay letter, not by an appropriations condition.

Run the Raise Through Your High-3

Controllers under FERS (including the special air traffic controller retirement provisions) have a High-3 like every other federal employee, and the 2.8% applies to the basic pay that High-3 is built from. The High-3 Calculator takes raw salary figures rather than GS grades, so it works for an ATC pay-plan salary: enter your current base, then enter base × 1.028, to see what the withheld raise would mean for the annuity if it lands inside your averaging window.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Congress actually approve a 3.8% raise for air traffic controllers?

Yes. Public Law 119-86, signed April 30, 2026, appropriates $140 million in Section 548 to fund a 3.8% calendar-year-2026 pay increase for air traffic controllers and the supervisors and managers who manage traffic. The raise is law. Whether it gets paid in full is a separate question.

Why haven't controllers received the full 3.8%?

The same section that approved the raise says it is implemented only to the extent the FAA Administrator determines, in his sole discretion, that improvements in workforce scheduling, staffing utilization, or other operational efficiencies have been achieved. Administrator Bryan Bedford has implemented the 1% that every federal civilian received and withheld the other 2.8 points. As of September 2026 he has not made the determination.

What is FAA asking for in exchange?

Based on Bedford's public comments, FAA wants scheduling changes that raise time on position, the hours a controller actively works traffic in a shift, from roughly four hours to more than five in an eight-hour shift. FAA says it is working through this with NATCA. No agreement had been reported as of mid-September.

If the FAA Administrator eventually approves it, is the raise retroactive?

By statute, yes. If the Administrator makes the determination, the adjustment is effective the first pay period beginning after January 1, 2026. There is no deadline for the determination and no default that pays the raise if he never makes it.

Are air traffic controllers on the GS pay scale?

No. Controllers are paid under FAA's own personnel system, with base pay set by facility complexity level rather than GS grade and step, plus locality pay and premium pay for nights, Sundays, and holidays. GS-based calculators cannot model controller pay because the tables are different.

How short-staffed is air traffic control?

FAA's 2026 to 2028 Workforce Plan sets a nationwide target of 12,563 Certified Professional Controllers against roughly 10,800 to 11,000 certified as of mid-2026. At specific facilities the gap is wider: Chicago O'Hare tower had 61 certified controllers against a target of 88 as of the FAA's September 2025 data cited by Senators Duckworth and Durbin.

What does NATCA say?

NATCA's public statement is measured: the union says it continues to advocate for meaningful improvements for controllers, including the pay parity wage increase passed by Congress, through ongoing engagement with the FAA. No formal grievance or legal filing over the withheld 2.8% had been publicly reported as of September 13, 2026.

Which employees does the 3.8% cover?

Two groups: air traffic controllers as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2109(1)(A), meaning civilian DOT and DOD employees actively separating and controlling traffic or providing preflight, inflight, or airport advisory service, and ATC supervisors or managers who manage air traffic but fall outside that definition. Both groups are receiving 1%.

Related Resources

• High-3 Calculator: Raw salary inputs, so it works for an ATC pay-plan base with and without the 2.8%.
• The Real 2027 Federal Pay Cut: What 0% and 3.4% inflation cost GS employees.
• Law Enforcement 3.8% Raise for 2027: The other pay carve-out, and how it differs.
• 2027 Federal Pay Raise Mechanics: How the pay letter and Congress interact.

Sources: Public Law 119-86, Division A, Title V, Section 548 (govinfo.gov) · 5 U.S.C. 2109 (Cornell LII) · Senators Duckworth and Durbin, letter to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, September 4, 2026 · FAA Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan 2026-2028 (May 15, 2026), as cited in the senators' letter and reported by CNN · Government Executive, September 8, 2026 · Washington Examiner, August 27, 2026 (Bedford remarks) · CBS News, September 2026 (FAA and NATCA statements).