Air Traffic Controllers

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Duties

Controllers of air traffic generally perform the following tasks:

• Maintain control of planes on the ground and in flight.
• All airport runway and taxiway traffic must be regulated.
• Give pilots guidance on how to land and take off.
• Transmit aircraft operations to alternate traffic management centers and receive arrival operations from those centers.
• Keep pilots up to date on weather conditions, runway closures, and any other relevant details.
• In the case of an aviation emergency, notify airport response personnel.
• Safety is the number one priority for air traffic controllers, but they also have to make sure that planes are flown effectively in order to reduce delays. Pilots rely on them to direct them during takeoff and landing, as well as to keep an eye on them as they fly above. Radar, computers, and visual references are some of the tools that air traffic controllers use to keep track of and guide the flow of aircraft in the air and on the ground.
• Aircraft controllers must make rapid choices to safeguard the safety of the planes they are in charge of managing at the same time. During a landing approach, for example, a controller may steer one aircraft while delivering meteorological information to another.
• Air traffic controllers come in many varieties.

Transportation on airport runways and taxiways is managed by tower controllers. Pilots are given permission to take off or land, runways are cleared, and other traffic is redirected by air traffic control officers. Most traffic controllers operate from control towers, where they monitor the flow of traffic. The airport's tower controllers oversee traffic in a three-to-to-thirty-mile radius.

Air traffic controllers guarantee that aircraft flying in and out of an airport's airspace keep a safe distance from one another. They provide permission to enter restricted airspace and delegate control of planes to controllers on the en route route. Terminal Radar Approach Control Centers (TRACCs) are where approach and departure controllers employ radar to monitor aircraft routes (TRACONs). Pilots are also informed of weather conditions and other important notifications by the weather service. Until the airplane is 20 to 50 miles from the airport and 17,000 feet above ground level, terminal approach controllers help the aircraft.

Upon departure from the confines of an airport's airspace, a plane's en route controller keeps watch over it. At air route traffic control centers around the nation, which are usually not situated at airports, they perform their duties. Each center is given a designated airspace depending on the area's geology and aviation traffic. En route controllers direct an aircraft as it approaches and flies through the airspace of a facility. In order to prevent collisions, they may alter the flight path of planes. Before turning over control of the aircraft to terminal approach controllers, route controllers lead the aircraft throughout the majority of the trip.

The Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center is home to some of the nation's most senior air traffic controllers, who keep an eye on all of the country's airspace. When a bottleneck is discovered, controllers provide directions to other controllers so that traffic bottlenecks may be avoided. Their goal is to protect airports and en route controllers from being overwhelmed by the volume of traffic.

Education

There are several different paths to becoming an air traffic controller. A candidate must have either 3 years of progressively responsible work experience, a bachelor’s degree, a combination of postsecondary education and work experience totaling 3 years, or obtain a degree through an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-approved Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program.

Additionally, to become an air traffic controller, candidates must be a U.S. citizen; pass a medical evaluation, including drug screening, and background checks; pass the FAA preemployment test, which includes a biographical assessment; pass the Air Traffic Controller Specialists Skills Assessment Battery (ATSA); and

complete a training course at the FAA Academy (and start it before turning 31 years of age).

Pay

In May 2020, air traffic controllers were paid an average of $130,420 per year on the job. When half of an occupation's workforce earns more than the median pay, the salary is referred to as the "median wage." The bottom 10% made less than $72,760, while the top 10% earned more than $184,780. 

Job Projections

Slower than the average for all vocations, the number of air traffic controllers will rise by 4% between 2020 and 2030.