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CareerOneStop Occupation Profile

Air Traffic Controllers

Description: what do they do?

Control air traffic on and within vicinity of airport, and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centers, according to established procedures and policies. Authorize, regulate, and control commercial airline flights according to government or company regulations to expedite and ensure flight safety.

Also known as:

Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS), Air Traffic Controller (ATC), Center Air Traffic Controller (Center ATC), Certified Professional Controller (CPC), Control Tower Operator, Enroute Air Traffic Controller (Enroute ATC), Radar Air Traffic Controller, Terminal Air Traffic Control Specialist (Terminal ATC Specialist), Tower Air Traffic Controller (Tower ATC)

Career video

https://cdn.careeronestop.org/OccVids/OccupationVideos/53-2021.00.mp4

Transcript: Watching blips on radar screens can make it seem like playing a video game… but each number on screen represents an aircraft – and the safety of flights depends on the careful, decisive guidance of air traffic controllers. These professionals typically work in the airport control tower to direct the flow of planes and passengers— whether on the ground, taking off, or coming in for a landing. Safety is their main priority— but air traffic controllers also try to minimize delays. Each controller is part of a nationwide system, responding to weather, mechanical difficulties, and all the small things that can cause big problems for pre-arranged flight plans. They must follow procedures to the letter, adapt to new circumstances continuously, and communicate clearly. Most air traffic controllers in the United States are trained at the Federal Aviation Administration Academy; trainees must start training before age 31, have U.S. citizenship, and pass several evaluations including an assessment of their ability to cope with mental stress over long hours. An aviation background is a plus. With the unusual characteristic of mandatory retirement at age 56, and typically excellent pay and benefits, this can be an attractive career that demands concentrated focus. Like the intricate cogs of a Swiss watch, air traffic controllers are part of an elegant choreography that makes air travel safe and speedy.

Outlook: will there be jobs?

United States

24,500 2020 Employment

25,500 2030 Employment

4% Percent change

2,500 Annual projected job openings

New job opportunities are less likely in the future.

Find job openings

Projected employment

Compare projected employment

Typical wages

Annual wages for Air Traffic Controllers in United States

Location United States

10% $72,760

25% $90,950

Median $130,420

75% $161,820

90% $184,780

See more wages

Education and experience: to get started

People starting in this career usually have:

Associate's degree

No work experience

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Programs that can prepare you:

Air Traffic Controller.

Typical education

How much education do most people in this career have?

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Certifications: show your skills

Let employers know you have the skills to do well at this job. Earning a certification can help you:

Get a job

Get a promotion

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Licenses: do you need one?

Some states require an occupational license to work in this career.

Find license details for your state

Apprenticeships: learn on the job

Apprenticeships combine paid on-the-job-training with classroom lessons.

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Activities: what you might do in a day

Notify others of emergencies, problems, or hazards.

Communicate with others to coordinate vehicle movement.

Coordinate flight control or management activities.

Respond to transportation emergencies.

Monitor vehicle movement or location.

Direct vehicle traffic.

Adjust routes or speeds as necessary.

Direct emergency management activities.

Train transportation or material moving personnel.

Monitor surroundings to detect potential hazards.

Operate communications equipment or systems.

Compile operational data.

Plan flight operations.

Meet with coworkers to communicate work orders or plans.

Choose optimal transportation routes or speeds.

Record operational details of travel.

Review documents or materials for compliance with policies or regulations.

Knowledge

People in this career often know a lot about:

Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

Skills

People in this career often have these skills:

Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

Speaking - Talking to others.

Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.

Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.

Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.

Abilities

People in this career often have talent in:

Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.

Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.

Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.

Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.

Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.

Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.

Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.

Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.

Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.

Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

Near Vision - Seeing details up close.

Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.

Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.

Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.

Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.

Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

Written Expression - Communicating by writing.

Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.

Originality - Creating new and original ideas.

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This information was retrieved on November 09, 2021 at 11:30 PM Eastern Time from Occupation Profile at CareerOneStop (www.CareerOneStop.org), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.

https://www.CareerOneStop.org/Toolkit/Careers/occupations/occupation-profile.aspx

Occupational descriptions, outlook data, sample titles (“Also known as”), activities, knowledge, skills, abilities, interests, tasks, and related occupations come from the O*NET 26.0 Database (https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html) by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Career videos were developed by CareerOneStop (https://www.careeronestop.org/Videos /CareerVideos/career-videos.aspx). Video content is based on data from the USDOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics website Occupational Outlook Handbook (https://bls.gov /ooh/home.htm) and O*NET OnLine (https://www.onetonline.org/), sponsored by the USDOL/ETA. The video creation platform, WOCHIT, was used to produce the career videos.

Outlook data (“Will there be jobs?”) come from O*NET at the USDOL/ETA (https://www.onetonline.org/find/bright and https://www.onetcenter.org/bright /2019/mnm_outlook.html).

State employment projections data for 2018-28 are from Projections Central(http://www.projectionscentral.com) and each state’s Labor Market Information office

National employment projections data come from the USDOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program (https://www.bls.gov/emp), Employment by detailed occupation, 2020 and projected 2030.

Wage data are from the USDOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2020. (https://www.bls.gov/oes)

Typical education needed for entry (“Education and experience: to get started”) comes from USDOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Education and Training Data, Education and training assignments by detailed occupation, 2020 (https://www.bls.gov/emp/documentation/education-training-system.htm).

Education and attainment data (“Typical education”) are from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Projections, Education and Training Data, Educational attainment for workers 25 years and older by detailed occupation, 2018-19 (https://www.bls.gov /emp/documentation/education-training-system.htm).