Air Traffic Controllers

Air Traffic Controllers Earnings

Median annual earnings of air traffic controllers in 2002 were $91,600. The middle 50 percent earned between $65,480 and $112,550. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $46,410, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $131,610.

The average annual salary, excluding overtime earnings, for air traffic controllers in the Federal Government—which employs 90 percent of the total—in nonsupervisory, supervisory, and managerial positions was $95,700 in 2002. Both the worker's job responsibilities and the complexity of the particular facility determine a controller's pay. For example, controllers who work at the FAA's busiest air traffic control facilities earn higher pay.

Depending on length of service, air traffic controllers receive 13 to 26 days of paid vacation and 13 days of paid sick leave each year, life insurance, and health benefits. In addition, controllers can retire at an earlier age and with fewer years of service than other Federal employees. Air traffic controllers are eligible to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service as an active air traffic controller or after 25 years of active service at any age. There is a mandatory retirement age of 56 for controllers who manage air traffic. However, Federal law provides for exemptions to the mandatory age of 56, up to age 61, for controllers having exceptional skills and experience.

Air Traffic Controllers Nature of Work

The air traffic control system is a vast network of people and equipment that ensures the safe operation of commercial and private aircraft. Air traffic controllers coordinate the movement of air traffic to make certain that planes stay a safe distance apart. Their immediate concern is safety, but controllers also must direct planes efficiently to minimize delays. Some regulate airport traffic; others regulate flights between airports.

Although airport tower or terminal controllers watch over all planes traveling through the airport's airspace, their main responsibility is to organize the flow of aircraft into and out of the airport. Relying on radar and visual observation, they closely monitor each plane to ensure a safe distance between all aircraft and to guide pilots between the hangar or ramp and the end of the airport's airspace. In addition, controllers keep pilots informed about changes in weather conditions such as wind shear—a sudden change in the velocity or direction of the wind that can cause the pilot to lose control of the aircraft.

During arrival or departure, several controllers direct each plane. As a plane approaches an airport, the pilot radios ahead to inform the terminal of the plane's presence. If the path is clear, the controller directs the pilot to a runway; if the airport is busy, the plane is fitted into a traffic pattern with other aircraft waiting to land. There, another controller, who also is watching the plane on radar, monitors the aircraft the last mile or so to the runway, delaying any departures that would interfere with the plane's landing. Once the plane has landed, a ground controller in the tower directs it along the taxiways to its assigned gate. The ground controller usually works entirely by sight, but may use radar if visibility is very poor.

The procedure is reversed for departures. The local controller then informs the pilot about conditions at the airport, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, and visibility. The local controller also issues runway clearance for the pilot to take off. Once in the air, the plane is guided out of the airport's airspace by the departure controller.

After each plane departs, airport tower controllers notify enroute controllers who will next take charge. There are 21 air route traffic control centers located around the country, each employing 300 to 700 controllers, with more than 150 on duty during peak hours at the busier facilities. Airplanes usually fly along designated routes; each center is assigned a certain airspace containing many different routes. Enroute controllers work in teams of up to three members, depending on how heavy traffic is; each team is responsible for a section of the center's airspace. A team, for example, might be responsible for all planes that are between 30 to 100 miles north of an airport and flying at an altitude between 6,000 and 18,000 feet.

To prepare for planes about to enter the team's airspace, the radar associate controller organizes flight plans coming off a printer. If two planes are scheduled to enter the team's airspace at nearly the same time, location, and altitude, this controller may arrange with the preceding control unit for one plane to change its flight path. The previous unit may have been another team at the same or an adjacent center, or a departure controller at a neighboring terminal. As a plane approaches a team's airspace, the radar controller accepts responsibility for the plane from the previous controlling unit. The controller also delegates responsibility for the plane to the next controlling unit when the plane leaves the team's airspace.

The radar controller, who is the senior team member, observes the planes in the team's airspace on radar and communicates with the pilots when necessary. For example, a controller might direct a plane on its landing approach and at the same time provide pilots entering the airport's airspace with information about conditions at the airport. While instructing these pilots, the controller also would observe other planes in the vicinity, such as those in a holding pattern waiting for permission to land, to ensure that they remain well separated.

In addition to airport towers and enroute centers, air traffic controllers also work in flight service stations operated at more than 100 locations. These flight service specialists provide pilots with information on the station's particular area, including terrain, preflight and inflight weather information, suggested routes, and other information important to the safety of a flight. Flight service station specialists help pilots in emergency situations and initiate and coordinate searches for missing or overdue aircraft. However, they are not involved in actively managing air traffic.

Some air traffic controllers work at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, where they oversee the entire system. The objective is to keep traffic levels in the trouble spots manageable for the controllers working at enroute centers.

Currently, the FAA is implementing a new automated air traffic control system, called the National Airspace System (NAS) Architecture.

Air Traffic Controllers Job Outlook

Employment of air traffic controllers is expected to grow about as fast as the average through the year 2012. Increasing air traffic will require more controllers to handle the additional work. Employment growth, however, is not expected to keep pace with growth in the number of aircraft flying because of the increasing automation of the air traffic control system and Federal budget constraints. New computerized systems will assist the controller by automatically making many of the routine decisions. This will allow controllers to handle more traffic, thus increasing their productivity. Federal budget constraints also may limit hiring of air traffic controllers.

More job openings are expected due to replacement needs. The majority of today's air traffic controllers will be eligible to retire over the next decade, although not all are expected to do so. Nevertheless, replacement needs will be substantial and will result in hundreds of job opportunities each year for those graduating from the FAA training programs. Despite the increasing number of jobs coming open, competition to get into the FAA training programs is expected to remain keen, as there generally are many more applicants to get into the schools than there are openings. But those that graduate have good prospects of getting a job as a controller.

Air traffic controllers who continue to meet the proficiency and medical requirements enjoy more job security than do most workers. The demand for air travel and the workloads of air traffic controllers decline during recessions, but controllers seldom are laid off.

Air Traffic Controllers Significant Points

Nearly all air traffic controllers are employed by the Federal Aviation Administration, part of the Federal Government.
Large numbers of air traffic controllers will be eligible to retire over the next decade, potentially creating many job openings.
Aircraft controllers earn relatively high pay and have good benefits.

Air Traffic Controllers Training

To become an air traffic controller, a person must enroll in an FAA-approved education program and pass a pre-employment test that measures his or her ability to learn the controller's duties in order to qualify for job openings in the air traffic control system. Exceptions are air traffic controllers with prior experience and military veterans. The pre-employment test is currently offered only to students in the FAA Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) Program or the Minneapolis Community & Technical College, Air Traffic Control Training Program. In addition, applicants must have 3 years of full-time work experience or 4 years of college, or a combination of both. In combining education and experience, 1 year of undergraduate study (30 semester or 45 quarter hours) is equivalent to 9 months of work experience.

Upon successful completion of an FAA-approved program, individuals who receive school recommendation and who meet the basic qualification requirements, including age limit and achievement of a qualifying score on the FAA authorized pre-employment test, become eligible for employment as an air traffic controller. Candidates also must pass a medical exam, drug screening, and security clearance before they can be hired.

Upon selection, employees attend the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City for 12 weeks of training, during which they learn the fundamentals of the airway system, FAA regulations, controller equipment, and aircraft performance characteristics, as well as more specialized tasks.

After graduation, it takes several years of progressively more responsible work experience, interspersed with considerable classroom instruction and independent study, to become a fully qualified controller. Controllers who fail to complete either the academy or the on-the-job portion of the training usually are dismissed. Controllers must pass a physical examination each year and a job performance examination twice each year. Failure to become certified in any position at a facility within a specified time also may result in dismissal. Controllers also are subject to drug screening as a condition of continuing employment.

Air traffic controllers must be articulate, because pilots must be given directions quickly and clearly. Intelligence and a good memory also are important because controllers constantly receive information that they must immediately grasp, interpret, and remember. Decisiveness also is required because controllers often have to make quick decisions. The ability to concentrate is crucial because controllers must make these decisions in the midst of noise and other distractions.

At airports, new controllers begin by supplying pilots with basic flight data and airport information. They then advance to the position of ground controller, then local controller, departure controller, and, finally, arrival controller. At an air route traffic control center, new controllers first deliver printed flight plans to teams, gradually advancing to radar associate controller and then radar controller.

Controllers can transfer to jobs at different locations or advance to supervisory positions, including management or staff jobs in air traffic control and top administrative jobs in the FAA. However, there are only limited opportunities for a controller to switch from a position in an enroute center to a tower.

Air Traffic Controllers Employment

Air Traffic Controllers Related Occupations

Airfield operations specialists also are involved in the direction and control of traffic in air transportation.

Air Traffic Controllers Additional Sources

For further information on how to qualify and apply for a job as an air traffic controller, contact:

Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20591. Internet: http://www.faa.gov.

Air Traffic Controllers Summaries of Related Webpages

Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. This issue occurs because some packets might be sent over the network before the IPSec driver has been initialized and before the IPSec policy has been processed. When you do this, IPSec blocks outgoing network traffic from the computer until the PolicyAgent component starts and until the PolicyAgent component loads the IPSec policies. After the IPSec PolicyAgent component has started, and after the IPSec policies are loaded, the PolicyAgent changes the IPSec driver's operation mode to permit the passage of IPSec traffic. You can transport this traffic by using IPSec to let you easily pass these kinds of traffic through a firewall.
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Large numbers of air traffic controllers will be eligible to retire over the next decade, potentially creating many job openings. Aircraft controllers earn relatively high pay and have good benefits. Air traffic controllers coordinate the movement of air traffic to make certain that planes stay a safe distance apart. Their immediate concern is safety, but controllers also must direct planes efficiently to minimize delays. There are 21 air route traffic control centers located around the country, each employing 300 to 700 controllers, with more than 150 on duty during peak hours at the busier facilities.
Summary of: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos108.htm

General interest data include Geographical info, Contact details, Hours of operation, Facilities available, Rescue services, etc. Get to know how ATC developed over the years. all the info you would like to know before landing updated every half an hour. Or maybe you have a question on ATC and don't know where to ask. Or you just want a place where you can interact with your peers.
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They apply separation rules to keep each aircraft apart from others in their area of responsibility and move all aircraft efficiently through 'their' airspace and on to the next. Although the media frequently refers to them as "air controllers" no controller ever does. They are called air traffic controllers. Approach (and departure) control can be accomplished with non-radar procedures, but is more familiar to pilots when radar is used. Bureau of Air Commerce took over the sytem from the airlines and created the first government air traffic control system, based on similar non-radar procedures and tracking and reporting systems.
Summary of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_traffic_controller

The World of Air Traffic Control at your fingertips. Welcome to the NATCA Chicago TRACON home page. We hope you find this site both informative end entertaining. A local of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association AFL-CIO (NATCA). About fifteen percent of all airline passengers travel through our airspace every day.
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They help pilots to take off and land safely, and make sure that planes are kept a safe distance apart. Each air traffic controller looks after a particular section of airspace. They are in frequent radio contact with pilots flying over their section, giving them instructions, advice and information. Because air transport is a 24-hour business, air traffic controllers work a mix of day and night shifts, and work at weekends. Salaries start at around �22,000.
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Using the remember me function will allow a cookie to be placed on your machine that will last a total of 1 week. Press Releases Tuesday, May 17, 2005-- NATCA HONORS REP.
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They provide separation between landing and departing aircraft. They provide separation between aircraft flying along the Federal airways or operating into or out of airports not served by a terminal facility. Center controllers use radar, or in some cases, manual procedures to track the progress of all instrument flights within the center's airspace. QUALIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS To be considered for a position, as Air Traffic Control Specialist, one must meet the qualification requirements which include maximum entry age requirements. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS For information regarding the FAA Academy, look under ATC Options at the FAA Academy website.
Summary of: http://www.faa.gov/careers/employment/atc.htm

AIR-TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS are responsible for the safe and efficient flow of air traffic throughout the nation's airspace. They navigate the airways, helping pilots pass other planes, find their way through fog and rough weather, and land safely at a busy airport. Most civilian Air Traffic Controllers work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the Department of Defense (DOD). Controllers must be able to work under extreme pressure, often without a break, for up to four hours at a stretch. WAGES, HOURS, AND FRINGE BENEFITS Entry-level Air Traffic Controllers start at $24,734 per year at the General Schedule-7 (GS-7).
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