How can I find a job as an air traffic controller?Īll air traffic controllers are employed by the FAA and all openings are posted on the USAJOBS website. Those with significant experience can train the next generation of air traffic controllers. What are the long term career prospects for air traffic controllers?Īir traffic controllers who gain experience and additional training can earn ratings that allow them to work in more complex roles and in busier control towers and traffic control centers. Younger candidates who have completed an AT-CTI program, have related working experience, and are willing to relocate have the best chances of earning a job in this field. Any new hires made by the FAA will be to replace retiring air traffic controllers, who in most cases must leave the field at the age of 56. Air traffic controllers are paid $17,803 while training, and $37,070 when they are first placed in a job, so it can take years of additional training and experience to reach the median salary.īetween advances in technology and budget concerns, employment of air traffic controllers in the United States is expected to grow only 1 percent between 20. The median yearly pay for air traffic controllers in the United States was $122,530 in 2012. What does an air traffic controller earn? Some may become fully certified in as few as five years, while others can take eight years or more. FAA Academy training takes two to five months to complete depending on one’s experience, and it can take two to four years of on-the-job training to become fully certified. The FAA requires prospective air traffic controllers to have three years of working experience in a field related to aviation, but this experience requirement can be met by completing a bachelor’s degree, which typically takes four years. There are several steps along the way to becoming an air traffic controller, so the amount of time it takes to become one varies by individual.
How long does it take to become an air traffic controller? The experience requirement is met through on-the-job training after graduation from the FAA Academy. Students who complete this training program are assigned to a job location where they continue their training while working.Īre there any certification or licensure requirements?Īir traffic controllers must be certified by the FAA, and they earn certification by passing a knowledge and practical exam and meeting experience requirements. At the FAA Academy, air traffic controllers receive intensive training that includes classroom instruction and work on air traffic control simulators. Based on the results of these tests, the FAA hires a group of graduates to continue their training at the FAA Academy. Graduates of AT-CTI programs must receive a recommendation from their school and pass the FAA’s bio-data assessment and Air Traffic Selection and Training Test to move on to the next step in the training process. Students in bachelor’s and master’s degree programs take these courses but also delve more deeply into aviation science and branch into computer science, management, or research. Students in associate degree programs take courses in topics like aviation weather, aviation law, basic navigation and flight operations, air traffic control technology, radar, and human factors. Air traffic controllers must be United States citizens, be younger than 31 years of age when they are first hired, and pass a criminal history background check and a medical exam that includes vision, color vision, hearing, psychological, substance abuse, cardiovascular, and neurological screenings.Īssociate degree-level AT-CTI programs typically focus closely on air traffic control, but bachelor’s and master’s degree programs widen their focus to aeronautics, aviation management, or aviation technology.
If you are interested in entering an AT-CTI program, you should first make sure you can meet the FAA’s standards for the employment of air traffic controllers. 36 schools across the country are approved through AT-CTI to offer associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree programs for prospective air traffic controllers. The first phase is typically completed through a program approved by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative(AT-CTI). What kind of training is required to become an air traffic controller?Īir traffic controllers go through two phases of training.
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