Comments on: So You Want My Job: Air Traffic Controller

By: jeff

jeff — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 06:04:16 +0000

Join the Navy and try to get in ATC on a aircraft carrier. That is the ultimate in military ATC.

By: Jose Chavez

Jose Chavez — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:14:55 +0000

What advice would you give to a young person who is interested in this type of career ?

By: cliff

cliff — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 01:48:18 +0000

Hello my name is cliff hopefully someone will get back to me. I have always wanted to be a jet pilot for the airforce. Im pretty sure I have whats it takes to be a pilot. My only problem is that I didnt have good grades in school and im 22 now so I think its to late. So my next option is to be and ATC in the airforce but is it too late for me to sign up for the airforce to be air traffic control? I really think im qualified for this job metally and phisically. My question? Is there still a chance I can become an air traffic controller? Thank you

By: billy boy

billy boy — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:41:30 +0000

ive herd a few examples of what i need to learn like flight paths, codes etc can anybody help me furthur?, much apreciated! IM gonna try one of the simulators on this page maybee the first one? atcsimulator.com

By: Paramjit

Paramjit — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:22:13 +0000

Thats an interesting look at an air controller’s working life. Interesting how the control is passed from 1 tower to another as how he described it above. Also it never struck me until he mentioned it but he has to be alert and present 100% of the time or it could turn into a disaster.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:34:24 +0000

Sorry, missed the question. As for what sim for the aspirIig controller, I really can’t answer that… I haven’t messed around with the commercial sims. I can say, no matter what sim you decide to mess around with, without knowing the basic ATC rule from FAAO 7110.65, you’d just be teaching yourself bad practices that if you do land a slot at an ATC school, you’d have to un-learn. No saying don’t mess with the sims, but if you are serious about a path in ATC, reading the regulations is the way to go.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:29:39 +0000

Actually, we do use a couple different simulators. The radar simulators a pretty good. The tower simulators, not so much. Radar, in my opinion, is “canned”. You tell the pilots pretty much the same thing. It’s seems very static, usually with plenty of time to fix issues that arise. (I admit I have limited radar experience though!). In the tower, you are dealing with less airspace, so you have less time to correct issues. Alot of times, you just have to tell pilots what to do & where to go in plain language as opposed to the phraseology that is printed in our ATC regulations. The simulators don’t allow for that. Not to mention the tower simulator is a voice recognition based system. If the computer interprets what you say as the wrong thing, which it does quite frequently, the whole simulation is pretty much messed up since you probably turned a plane directly at another one. It’s a little harder to write out than what I was thinking it would be! Lol. They have made great strides in the ATC sim sector, but it’s by no means a replacemen for seeing the planes out our windows.

By: enliteneer

enliteneer — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 01:11:10 +0000

It would be interesting to hear his opinion on atc simulators..

With the power of computing, I imagine a realistic game model could simulate every possible scenario that an air traffic controller would ever experience!

For aspiring Air Traffic Controllers, what do the pro’s recommend for best simulator?

http://www.atcsimulator.com/
http://www.atc-sim.com/
http://www.vatsim.net/atc/atcclients/
http://www.simulatedsky.aero/main.htm?home.htm~mainf
etc…

By: John

John — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:22:24 +0000

Good write-up. Isn’t “literally save thousands of lives everyday” a bit of an exaggeration though?

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:58:28 +0000

Nice write up. I went to college on a path to be ARTCC, but ended up snagging a job quickly after college to pay off my student loans and kinda got sidetracked. Wonder how hard it is to get into the civilian route now…..