AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLERS??? ANY OUT THERE?

Hey is there any air traffic controllers on here??? i am joining the air force soon and that is going to be my job. hoping someone can let me know how it is and teach me the ropes!!! :smiley:

I can tell you first hand if it’s for the money AND you live in a high cost of living area, any gubment job is NOT the place to go. Live in the boonies and yes, you can live high off the hog on a gubment salary.

Not sure of the accuracy of payscale.com/research/US/Job … ler/Salary

Hopefully the above will give you a sense of payscale for ATC.

My personal opinion from the other side of the mic (I am not ATC), they are waaaaaay underpaid. :wink:

I was a Navy controller and then worked for the FAA for 24 years or so. It is a great career and a challenge and a lot of fun, to boot.

Challenge is the key word. Some people are just not cut out to do it. Some people cannot make the physical requirements (vision, stuff like that). In the military, there are so many ways to get sidetracked, that sometimes the Air controller in you might get lost in the shuffle.

How old are you? You must be less than 31 to be hired by the FAA…check the FAA age requirements.

After your Air Force days, the FAA will beckon. (if the FAA air traffic hasn’t been sold to the highest bidder!).

Yes, as Lieberma has pointed out, there is now a “B” scale for newly hired controllers (since 2006 or so). So, you could be sitting next to an “old timer” who is making many thousands of dollars more than you, and you are doing the exact same job. Note: The controllers union, NATCA, and the FAA are in negotiations on a new contract as I write this, and fixing the B scale issue is a major point of contention.

So, good luck. As far as advice goes, I would have told you to join the Navyjavascript:emoticon(‘:D’)

But, seriously, get a copy of the AIM and read it through. Its the best broad knowledge of aviation you can get. They will teach you everything you need to know about ATC when you get to wherever the Air Force school is. (Keesler???)

[quote=“slimjim1821”]
Hey is there any air traffic controllers on here??? i am joining the air force soon and that is going to be my job. hoping someone can let me know how it is and teach me the ropes!!! :smiley: [/quote]

I used to be. Learned in the USAF went on to the FAA. Fun job but it’s not for everybody. I was a private pilot before I finished high school and getting paid to watch planes takeoff and land sounded like a good job, guess that’s why they put me in the radar room. Used my VA benefits (90% then) to get my Commercial, Instrument and Multi-Engine while I was still in the AF.

Frank Holbert
160knots.com

I was a controller in the AF from '00-'04 and have been one in the FAA from '05-present. I thoroughly enjoy what I do. However, if money is your main motivation then you may want to rethink things.

I enlisted for 4 years so I went though the slower of the two promotion tracks, at least the way it was set up then. It wasn’t until my 2nd year that I wasn’t living pay check to pay check. If you have/get a family, then you’ll be even worse off. You’ll probably qualify welfare.

As a controller in the military or FAA you’ll be working when everyone else is off. You’ll be off when everyone else is working. There’s no way to know what the FAA’s hiring situation will be when you get out. When I got out they had a freeze on hiring. Fortunately they started again within a few months and I had a start date almost exactly a year after my date of separation.