Federal Benefits

As a Federal employee, depending on the type of appointment, you'll receive a benefits package that rivals, if not surpasses, those offered in the private sector. It includes a variety of insurance, retirement, leave and flexible spending options for employees and their families. The comprehensive package is designed to provide employees with the tools and care they need to be happy and healthy at work and at home.

Federal benefits include:

Health Insurance

Depending on the type of appointment, employees may enroll in one of several health plans that fit your health needs, with the Federal Government contributing approximately 60-75 percent of the premiums. Dental & Vision insurance, flexible spending accounts and long term care are also available.

Life Insurance

The Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) protects your family from financial hardship in the event of your death. Depending on the type of appointment, employees entering into Federal service are automatically provided basic coverage. Life insurance for your spouse and eligible dependent children is also available.

Holidays and Leave

Federal employees receive 10 days of paid holidays, as well as annual leave, Family Medical and Leave Act, sick leave and more.

Learn more about Federal healthcare benefits.

Retirement

If you are first hired in a covered federal government position after December 31, 1986, you will be under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). The amount of your contribution depends on when you are first hired.

FERS is a retirement plan that provides benefits from three different sources:

• Basic Benefit Plan (annuity)
• Social Security
• Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)

Important: Your contribution into FERS is dependent on when you are first hired. If you are first hired into the federal government after December 31, 2013, your retirement system is FERS-FRAE and your contribution is 4.4% (4.9% for Air Traffic Controllers) of your salary.

Learn more about Federal retirement.

WorkLife Benefits

Ensuring that our employees find the right balance between work and everything else in life is an important goal for the FAA. Whether you find yourself coping with work-related stress and in need of counseling or you're searching for child care, we work to provide you with a solution.

WorkLife Solutions Employee Assistance Program 

Everyone needs help from time to time dealing with life's challenges, like starting a new career, marriage, the birth of a child, buying a house, dealing with teenagers or caring for an aging loved one.  

When you feel like you need help dealing with a situation that's troubling you, contact the WorkLife Solutions Employee Assistance Program, which is available to you and your immediate family members 24/7. 

Access the services of the EAP by calling 800-234-1327 (TTY 711) or visiting www.MagellanAscend.com. Once on that site, access the benefits the FAA offers by clicking on “Find My Company” in the upper right corner and entering “Federal Aviation Administration” in the search box. 

The EAP provides services such as:

Legal and Financial Services

Provides personal legal and financial assistance from trained professionals, as well as access to many online tools, resources and discounts for extended services. 

Personal Counseling 

Access a nationwide network of licensed and experienced counselors for support with challenges such as stress and anxiety, substance misuse, marital, relationship or parenting issues and more. Counseling is free and confidential and includes up to eight in-person or virtual sessions. 

Senior Care Services 

Provides in-home assessments and recommendations for the care of elderly parents or relatives. Also includes facility reviews, post-hospitalization assessments and ongoing care coordination. 

Life Management Services 

Connects employees with a specialist who provides referrals on a variety of topics and services, including planning a move, finding a local doctor and fitness center, and locating childcare services, and resources such as tutoring and before- and after school programs.  

Lifestyle Coaching 

Access to a coach who will help you define and achieve your goals by providing support, resources and accountability. Examples of assistance include maintaining a healthy weight, personal improvement, relationship concerns and work performance. 

Childcare Resources and Referrals  

Specialists provide consultation and referrals to help find childcare that meets your needs, including in-home nannies, au pairs and babysitters, family day care homes, daycare centers, and before-and after school programs. You can also access resources for children with disabilities, tutoring, college search, navigating the adoption process, parenting guidance and more. 

Support Tools for Managers 

Assists managers with a variety of issues, including motivating employees, reviewing performance, selecting team trainings and ensuring productivity.

Child Care Program 

On-site Child Care Centers 

The on-site Child Care Program at FAA is a valued WorkLife service that benefits families and strengthens the workforce. The FAA has developed an exemplary child care program consisting of 15 independently operated child care centers located in FAA managed spaces across the country. The centers offer high quality, safe child care to FAA and federal employees and community members.  

Each child care center is led by a non-profit board of directors. All are licensed by their respective state. Additionally, our centers are required to be accredited through the National Association for the Education of Young Children. 

Our Child Care Centers: 

• Work with FAA families to provide nurturing and innovative learning environments that support a child’s emotional, social, cognitive and physical well-being. 
• Ensure a safe, warm and caring environment that encourage a child’s strong self-esteem, independence and confidence. 
• Create exciting classroom programming that includes age-appropriate activities that encourage exploration, learning and fun. 
• Hire talented, experienced staff and provide them with annual training to continue to build strong relationships with children and families. 
• Maintain a dedication to supporting working FAA families and providing comfort and confidence that each child is receiving exceptional care.

The FAA also provides child care, nanny and au pair resource and referral services through our Employee Assistance Program to promote work-life balance and assist with employee resilience.  

If you have questions about the Child Care Centers, please reach out to the Child Care Team at 9-FAA-National-Child-Care-Program@faa.gov  

Child Care Subsidy Program 

High-quality child care options for your children can be extremely expensive. But without them, FAA parents may struggle to find peace of mind while at work. The FAA Child Care Subsidy Program may allow you to afford safe and reliable child care from any registered or licensed child care program or licensed and registered nanny or au pair service. Email the Child Care Team to obtain a list of licensed and registered providers. 

The subsidy is available to permanent full-time FAA employees whose total family income is $100,000 or less and who have a child aged 13 or under (or disabled and under age 18) in licensed child care. The amount you can receive depends on your total family income and the amount you pay for child care. If your total family income is less than $100,000 annually, the FAA will pay the corresponding percentage of your child care costs indicated in the chart below. 

Subsidy benefits are available only for employees who meet the eligibility requirements. Employees will be eligible for subsidy payments for services provided only after the subsidy application has been approved. 

If you have questions on how to apply, please reach out to the Child Care Team at 9-FAA-National-Child-Care-Program@faa.gov.

Nursing Mothers Program  

The FAA Nursing Mothers Program enhances the quality of work life balance for employees who are nursing, while allowing them to remain productive in their jobs. This program is open to FAA employees, contractors and visitors to FAA facilities. 

If you are an employee that needs to take care of your lactation needs during the workday, you may obtain permission to take reasonable breaks and access lactation space to express milk at the workplace.  

If you would like more information about the Nursing Mothers Program or you need a nursing mothers room at your facility, please reach out to the Child Care Team at 9-AHR-NursingMoms@faa.gov.  

Voluntary Leave Transfer Program 

The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (Leave Share) allows federal employees to donate annual leave to other federal employees (excluding the leave donor's immediate supervisor) who are experiencing a medical emergency and have exhausted their available paid leave. 

Participation as a leave recipient in the VLTP is intended to be a stopgap measure until the employee can return to work within a reasonable period or until the employee is approved for disability retirement. Participation in the VLTP is limited to one year from the effective date of the leave recipient’s enrollment. 

The VLTP is open to permanent and temporary employees on full-time or part-time schedules who: 

1. Are experiencing a medical emergency or need to care for a family member experiencing a medical emergency and
2. Will require an absence from work without available paid leave for at least 24 consecutive work hours.

Part-time employees must require an absence from work without available paid leave for at least 30% of the number of hours in the employees biweekly scheduled tour of duty. 

Note: Employees on intermittent work schedules are not eligible because they do not earn or use leave. 

If you have any questions about the VLTP or how to apply, please reach out to the VLTP team at 9-AHR-VLTP-ELTP-ELB@faa.gov  

Voluntary Leave Bank 

The Voluntary Leave Bank is a leave sharing program that allows members to receive paid leave from the bank when they exhaust their available paid leave as result of:  

• Personal medical emergency.
• Family medical emergency.
• Bonding with a newborn or newly adopted/placed child.

VLB is comprised of member contributions and donations of sick or unused accrued annual leave. 

Members are eligible to receive leave for:

• Personal Medical Emergencies – Up to 720 hours for themselves. 
• Family Member Medical Emergencies – Up to 480 hours to care for a qualified family member.
• Bonding/Adoption – Up to 240 hours to bond with a newborn.

Note: The maximum amount of leave a recipient may receive from the leave bank collectively is 1,040 hours per leave year. 

If you have questions about the VLB program or how to apply, please contact the VLB Team at 9-AHR-LeaveBank-VLB@faa.gov  

Telework and Remote Work 

Telework and remote work are work flexibilities under which an employee performs the duties and responsibilities from an approved worksite other than the location from which the employee would otherwise work. 

If you are interested in telework or remote work, please reach out to your direct supervisor. Telework policies differ for bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit employees, as well as between offices and managers, so your supervisor will be the best resource for determining your eligibility. 

Pay

FAA is not governed by the General Schedule (GS) pay system. Instead, salaries for FAA employees are categorized into six different pay plans determined by your job category and experience level. Pay plans are as follows:

Core Compensation Plan (FV)

A "pay for performance" plan that recognizes, rewards and encourages individual contributions and organizational success. You are assigned a pay band based on your job category and level of responsibility for your position. Most FAA employees are on Core Compensation Plans.

• Core Compensation Salary Table (MS Excel)

Air Traffic Compensation Plan (AT)

 

The AT Compensation Plan covers:

Air Traffic Control Specialists (ATCS) and Traffic Management Coordinators/Specialists (TMC/TMS).

• Air Traffic Specialized Pay Plan (ATSPP) Pay Tables (MS Excel)

Air Traffic managers, supervisors, operations and support employees, and other staff.

• Staff Support Specialist (MSS-1) Pay Tables (MS Excel)
• Manager and Supervisor (MSS-2/3/4) Pay Tables (MS Excel)

Flight Service Specialists.

• Flight Service Specialist (FSS) Pay Tables (MS Excel)

Executive Compensation Plan (EV)

Applies to Officers, Executives and Senior Professionals who are part of the FAA Executive System (FAAES).

• Executive Compensation Pay Tables (MS Excel) (See tabs for each locality along bottom of spreadsheet.)

FG Pay Plan

Similar to the Federal General Schedule (GS), applies to mainly salaried employees whose positions have not yet been converted to the Core Compensation Plan.

• 2025 General Schedules (GS Locality Pay Tables)

FW Pay Plan

Similar to the Federal Wage System (WG, WL, WS), covers employees who are paid by the hour.

• Federal Wage System and Schedules

In addition to these competitive base salaries, we also offer Locality Pay and Non-Foreign Cost-of-Living Allowances that are dependent upon your geographic location and reflect the relative cost of labor across the country.