Posted: 1/12/2010 9:14:41 AM EDT
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So, I know that being an ATC is hard work, but what I don't know is exactly how hard it really is. It's something i'm interested in, but there's just a lot of information out there concerning the subject. I guess what i'm asking is....
1.) How long/what would it take to be able to work ATC? 2.) How is the job market for ATC right now? In the next 5 years? Next 10? 3.) General hours of work? General pay? |
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Quoted:
So, I know that being an ATC is hard work, but what I don't know is exactly how hard it really is. It's something i'm interested in, but there's just a lot of information out there concerning the subject. I guess what i'm asking is.... 1.) How long/what would it take to be able to work ATC? 2.) How is the job market for ATC right now? In the next 5 years? Next 10? 3.) General hours of work? General pay? NATCA - howto |
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My father was and ATC for 30 years until he retired 4 years ago. There are a few stories that still stick with me.
I was about 13 years old when my mother went to drop something off to my father when he was working the tower in IND. I remember being in the tower talking to my father and looking at the radar screen and seeing a line of dots and asking my father if those were planes waiting to land. His reply was "No. Those are trucks going down I-70". I asked how he could tell the difference to which he replied "I can't. I just try to avoid lining planes up above them." To this day I still think of that every time I fly in to IND and see I-70 next to the airport. I once asked my father what the hardest part of his job was. His reply: Today I had six F-16s flying at 600 knots and a dozen or so private aircraft flying at 100 knots. You keep them apart. To this day my father still will not fly and insists on driving every where. Then again if you need a good example of being an ATC just watch the movie Pushing Tin 
B |
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Quoted: So, I know that being an ATC is hard work, but what I don't know is exactly how hard it really is. It's something i'm interested in, but there's just a lot of information out there concerning the subject. I guess what i'm asking is.... 1.) How long/what would it take to be able to work ATC? 2.) How is the job market for ATC right now? In the next 5 years? Next 10? 3.) General hours of work? General pay? 1) The hiring process takes between 8 months to a year to get a class date. 2-4 months at the academy depending on terminal or artcc. And years in training at your facility 2) right now is the trailing edge of a huge hiring push but they are always hiring due to high trainee losses, retirement, losing your medical, losing your security clearance, quitting and the fact you are forced out at 56. the attrition rate is pretty high. I have a friend who of his class of 6 who entered his facility he's the last one left. They got there 17 months ago. 3) At least 40 hours a week, often more. Pay depends on several things. i) Where you work. Boonie rinky dink towers dont get paid much, big TRACONS and ARTCCs pay well. ii) Locality of your facility iii) Your qualifications: The more checked out you are the more you get iv) Time served at your pay grade the longer you work the more you make |
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Now is the LEADING edge of the retirement boom for ATC. Many controllers hired after the strike in '81 are right around age 50. They are allowing some to extend past 55 if they are in critical facilities.
The brother of a friend is in Chicago TRACON. He's been on mandatory 6 day weeks for over a year. They can't get anyone trained because it's such a tough environment. Centers are tough. Towers are (relatively) easy. TRACON's are (generally) in between, although, NORCAL/SOCAL/ORD and the NYC area are really tough. Right now, OKC is backed up. .gov hasn't figured out that they need to open the pipeline WIDE due to shortages so they just keep the rate the same as if they had normal attrition. At this time, it's tough to get hired off the street. Most newhires are coming from colleges (CTI programs) or prior ATC in the .mil. If you're over 30, forget it. It's a convoluted system for hiring/training/basing and my pilot-pea brain can't figure it out. Don't even try to decipher the pay bands.  You'll be paid well if you get in.
TC P.S.––Disclaimer: Daughter is in a CTI program right now so some of the above comes from her. Neighbor is a Center controller so some comes from him. Other gouge picked up from "stuckmic.com", an ATC forum. |
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Quoted: Now is the LEADING edge of the retirement boom for ATC. Many controllers hired after the strike in '81 are right around age 50. They are allowing some to extend past 55 if they are in critical facilities. The brother of a friend is in Chicago TRACON. He's been on mandatory 6 day weeks for over a year. They can't get anyone trained because it's such a tough environment. Centers are tough. Towers are (relatively) easy. TRACON's are (generally) in between, although, NORCAL/SOCAL/ORD and the NYC area are really tough. Right now, OKC is backed up. .gov hasn't figured out that they need to open the pipeline WIDE due to shortages so they just keep the rate the same as if they had normal attrition. At this time, it's tough to get hired off the street. Most newhires are coming from colleges (CTI programs) or prior ATC in the .mil. If you're over 30, forget it. It's a convoluted system for hiring/training/basing and my pilot-pea brain can't figure it out. Don't even try to decipher the pay bands. You'll be paid well if you get in.TC P.S.––Disclaimer: Daughter is in a CTI program right now so some of the above comes from her. Neighbor is a Center controller so some comes from him. Other gouge picked up from "stuckmic.com", an ATC forum. OKC is getting toned down. The principal contractor for training Raytheon is being told to cut hours by large margins. The FAA is saying it's a normal but it cant keep up with the attrition rates. If youre over thirty you have to enter the academy before your 31st. Pay is good as long as you're not at a small tower. Stuckmic is mostly made up of people at the academy, people waiting for a date or people waiting to take the test. |
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In addition to what has been said, the following will also apply:
you will observe pilots/flight crews perform great feats of airmanship... you will observe pilots/flight crews do some of the stupidest shit... you will be under scrutiny all the time. your employer is always looking to bust you for even chicken-shit stuff... you are always guilty until proven innocent... depending on the facility, you will have unstable work hours (rotating days/shifts)...this is not a big deal when you are young; however, as the years pass, it does catch up to you. I just turned over 22 years on the job (I spent four years in law enforcement prior to this) and I am definately feeling the long term effects of sleep deprivation... You will work with some of the most dedicated and professional people on this planet; and you'll also get to work with some real douche bags... You will scare the living shit out of yourself so bad, you cannot stop shaking You will have a high degree of job satisfaction... You will have some of the most incompetent people in positions of authority over you... You will love this job with all your heart ; You will hate this job with all your heart... Chances are great that your marriage(s) will not last (several are working on their 2nd and 3rd spouses)... You will work with great equipment.... You will work with equipment that will make you wonder how it got through the aquisition process... There are periods of boredom... There are periods of intensity that you will experience no where else... The list goes on and on. Seriously, if you can find something else (for employment), I would recommend steering clear of Air Traffic. I am the typical Type A, hard charging individual, that is most geared towards this career field. I am really good at what I do (according to my peers), however, I look at myself and my peers (us old timers with 20+ years) and compare it to the new kids in their 20's (like I was when I started) and one can clearly see the toll that this job has taken on us. Let me put it in another context: If my son told me that he wanted to become an air traffic controller (before trying anything else), I would consider my self a failure as a parent. There are much better things one can do with their life. |
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Mo4040,
You are right on about all of it. I retired 7 years ago and couldn’t get out fast enough. Did I like my job, YES, and like you, my peers thought the same of me. I thought at one time I wasn’t going to make it to retirement. (BURN OUT, BIG TIME). Was it rewarding, YES. I was able to do what 75% of the people hired, couldn’t do. The pay is great, great retirement benefits, once a FPL (Full Performance Level) your job is fairly safe. I found in my career that at no time did they EVER have enough controllers working for the FAA. After the strike, they could never catch up with the attrition rate of people being lost. If you’re looking for a pat on your back for doing a GREAT and OUTSTANDING JOB, you won’t find it. IT’S YOUR JOB! If you don’t dream about planes in your sleep, saying "turn right" ,"turn left”, “climb and maintain", then your are probably one of those controllers who doesn’t care if he or she is screwing you on a RADAR handoff because they didn’t know what to do and expect you to figure it out. Well the list goes on and on. If you can do this job you will be one of the very few that can hack it. If it’s something you would like to do, then GO FOR IT. |