The Transportation Department said last week it was seeking $117 million to hire 1,800 air traffic controllers next year, in addition to 1,500 being hired this year.

“We need air traffic controllers. We need maximum hiring, so that these stresses and pressures can be taken off of us who are holding the system together today.” ...

The roots of the air traffic controller shortage go all the way back to 1981, when then-President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 controllers who had gone on strike to protest what they ...