I have a serious interest to become an air traffic controller. What study is needed? How does one obtain a position?
2006-09-23 05:22:56 · 7 answers · asked by pete_mackin 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
Depending on your age and ability to do well on the ASVAB test, I highly recommend simply joining the Air Force. You'll not only receive all required training and gain valuable experience, you'll get a good paycheck, enlistment/re-enlistment bonuses and be able to go to essentially any airport in the world when you get out and be guaranteed a job. Good luck with it.
2006-09-23 05:59:37 · answer #1 · answered by vwhobo 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Air traffic control is a great field to get into. There are only a few ways to get into the FAA though.
The first route is the military. All of the services, (except the Coast Guard) list "Air Traffic Control Operator" as a military occupational specialty. I was an atc in the army for 10 years. The Army places an equal emphasis on tactical as well as fixed-base operations. I was fortunate enough to certify at a fixed-base, (FAA-certificated), everywhere I was stationed at. Some are not so lucky. I've known a few ole-timers go a full 20 years and never certify in a fixed-base facility. It's luck of the draw really as far as that goes. The goal of joining the military to become an air traffic controller is to attain at least one FAA-CTO license, and then get all the approach control radar experience you can. I was lucky enough to get 4 licenses and one approach control rating.
The second way is through a small handful of college programs. There are a few colleges out there with specified air traffic control programs. Most all of them are designed for the "en route" option, meaning they are training and teaching you to work in a "center".
The 3rd option is for those rare moments when the FAA opens it's doors to anyone off the street who is accepted from their aptitude test. I went to the FAA academy with a gentleman who was to be employed by the Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center who was right off the street. Mind you he was a very intelligent guy, and rose to the challenge of the academy.
All three options and paths to take into the FAA hold no guarantee of employment. Sometimes a region may decide to hire from the pool of veterans out there, using the VRA (Veterans Realignment Act). And there are times where a region will pick up a decent number of college graduates to work in facilities.
I submitted my appliation in April of '02 and wasn't even called back for notification of an offer until late October of that same year. I didn't report for "swearing-in" at the Academy until March of '03. So as you can see, it is a long process.
One more thing about the employment process. If you are approaching the age of 31, forget this all. Age-limit. There are exceptions which someone might post to this, but they are RARE as a 4-dollar bill.
Now to address the pay and benefits. Yes the pay and benefits are very nice once you have become a Certified Professional Controller, (CPC). As a trainee, it sucks when you first get hired. Through certifications along your training process, you will earn raises along the way. They are incentive for you to complete training.
Training itself can be a lengthy process as well. I have only certified at a Center in the FAA, so I can only speak of that with true authority. Typically, training will take about 2-5 years from the time you enter the academy until the time you get your final check ride to become a CPC. Controllers with miliary backgrounds stereotypically always seem to fare slightly better since we have prior experience talking to aircraft and have a general feel for how everything works to begin with. I was fortunate enough to certify in 2 years time, (which is considered very quick in the Center environment). There are alot of factors just outside of your control to dictate the rate at which you will progess.
The job itself can be demanding at times, and it does take a bit of natural talent to do the job. However, when you've worked traffic for a length of time, it becomes old hat to you, and if you can think on your feet well, the out of the ordinary situations will not "bury" you as a controller.
I have one last bit of advice to pass along to you. Please do not get into air traffic control only for the benefits and money. These types of controllers are the most dangerous because they do not care about the high quality level of service that we try to provide the flying public. If you do not share a passion for aviation in general, please look elsewhere.
2006-09-23 13:08:33 · answer #2 · answered by Lew W 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Keep in mind that most ATC jobs are in dark rooms, staring at a display with lots of airplanes on it.
The guys in the tower are there to control aircraft movement on the ground, like taxiing and parking.
2006-09-23 17:25:21 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a very good carrer! What study is needed? areial Navigation!!
2006-09-23 13:38:23 · answer #4 · answered by alfonso 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm not sure about those, but I know it is one of the most stressful jobs in the world.
2006-09-23 12:28:08 · answer #5 · answered by mojo2093@sbcglobal.net 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
call or write the faa. they are the source to help you out.
2006-09-23 12:27:49 · answer #6 · answered by cadaholic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://www.faa.gov/jobs/job_opportunities/airtraffic_controllers/
spells it all out for you in various PDF docs.
2006-09-23 15:31:43 · answer #7 · answered by cherokeeflyer 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋