WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday the Trump administration will take steps to boost air traffic controller hiring after a series of recent safety incidents again raised questioned about a persistent staffing shortage.

The Federal Aviation Administration will open its hiring window to become an air traffic controller through March 17, will increase starting salaries by 30% for candidates who go to the FAA training academy and will speed the time-to-hire by cutting more than four months off the old process.

The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and has about 10% fewer controllers than it did in 2012.

(Reporting by David Shepardson)

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