They must have two to four years of experience before full certification. Once in the job, the hours are long, and the pay is low until they gain experience.

U.S. air traffic controllers will be offered the opportunity to stay past their mandatory retirement age of 56, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News on Thursday in the wake of the Washington plane crash.

The US 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.