US aviation officials push to resume normal air traffic operations while coronavirus spreads The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has slowly been resuming pre-pandemic air traffic controller scheduling as passenger and cargo flights have increased over the last few months. Over 14,000 controllers keep track of as many as 5,000 flights in the skies above the US at any given moment. Handlers load baggage on to a Delta Airlines flight at a gate in Denver International Airport (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) After the forced closure of air traffic control (ATC) towers in March due to COVID-19 infections among air traffic controllers, the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controller Association (NATCA) agreed to “dynamic scheduling” to continue operations. Under the agreement, air traffic controllers worked in dedicated teams to contain breakouts within smaller groups of controllers. Between March 17 and July 9, nearly 90 air traffic control facilities reported at least one coronavirus case, with about 165 workers infected throughout the system.