Becoming an Air Traffic Controller

Have you or someone you know ever considered becoming an air traffic controller for the FAA? I spent nearly 10 years of my aviation career working for the agency, and I loved the work. Coincidentally, the FAA just announced its latest recruiting drive for new controllers. But there’s not much time to think about this opportunity. The application window closes on November 4, 2024.

I always thought of air traffic control (ATC) like the 3D chess game they used to play on Star Trek. Your realm is the airspace in your area of responsibility, be that around a local airport’s control tower, or a larger area where the game is set by the limits of the radar screen in front of you. Your job as a controller is to think two or three moves ahead. There can be a fresh challenge every few minutes on a busy day. To make it all interesting, the chess pieces – aircraft – are already in motion. The trick is not simply to plan your next few moves but to attempt to maintain awareness of everything happening in your area. Pilots must also maintain a similar kind of situational awareness of what’s happening above, below, in front of, and behind their aircraft. The goal is always to prevent any two aircraft from occupying the same airspace simultaneously. That’s all there is to it.

OK, I may have oversimplified the job a bit. There’s plenty of classroom work required long before a trainee controller begins earning the big bucks. While the FAA says the average US controller earns about $150,000 annually, there are some earning much less at less busy airports and others earning much more. Added to a great salary is a range of benefits like healthcare and a retirement plan.

Hurdles

Applicants should understand a few potential bumps that they might experience. Applicants can be no older than 31 when they apply. The mandatory retirement age for controllers is 56. Not everyone who applies for the job will be accepted, nor will everyone complete a training program that often takes years to complete. Fully 1/3 of the people accepted by the FAA never make it through the training to become fully certified. Training begins with a few months of classroom training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. There are a few exceptions to academy attendance if an applicant is part of the agency’s Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative. Following classroom training comes actual on-the-job training at the facility to which a trainee is assigned. Assignments are based on the needs of the FAA. That assignment could be in a city the trainee has requested, but it’s not guaranteed.

If you’re looking for a 9-5 job, ATC is definitely NOT for you because ATC requires working rotating shifts each week. You could begin work late in the afternoon and work until Midnight, or you might begin at 6 am and work until after lunch. You might even be required to work overnight beginning at 11 pm and leaving at 7 am the next day. Working some combination of these rotating shifts can be tough on a person’s body clock.

The agency has been short-staffed for decades, ever since the 1981 PATCO strike in which President Reagan fired 11,345 controllers in 1981. The current application for 2,000 new controllers is a start, but should probably have been increased to 3,500, considering the attrition of trainees along the way. Because of the shortage, many controllers today are working mandatory six-day weeks, often accompanied by 10-hour days. That means people are tired.

I mention fatigue and staffing specifically because when a trainee arrives at their new ATC facility, they’ll normally be assigned to work with a certified controller to learn the job of air traffic control. A shortage of personnel could mean training lasts longer than it would under normal staffing. It all varies by facility.

Departure

Despite the rosy picture I’ve painted here, I left ATC because I had a pocketful of pilot certificates and I wanted to fly airplanes more than I wanted to stay on the ground watching them fly by. I’ve never been unhappy about my decision, but I still have enormous respect for the men and women who complete the training and continue to help keep a watchful eye on our national airspace. To this day, I love to listen to ATC chatter on LiveATC.net.

Decades of flying taught me there’s a symbiotic relationship between air traffic control and flying airplanes. Pilots and controllers need to better understand each other’s role in the National Airspace System to ensure safety. In other words, we all need each other in order to make the system operate safely.

If you’re even remotely interested, be sure and file your application before November 4^th. If you have specific questions, I’ll do my best to answer if you write to me at rob@jetwhine.com. And let me know if you’re one of the lucky ones accepted for training.

Rob Mark, Publisher

End Part One