There are several types of controllers: airport tower controllers, ground controllers, and en route controllers. Pilots depend on airport tower controllers to guide their flight patterns in the air around airports, while terminal controllers are responsible for a plane’s ground movements on runways and to terminals. En route controllers, on the other hand, manage plane traffic in the airspace beyond airports.
As pilots approach an airport, they radio the terminal to let the air traffic controller know they are nearby. Radar room controllers, who are located below the control tower, view the plane’s flight plan and location on the radar. If the runway is clear, the air traffic controller will tell the pilot where to land. If traffic is too heavy, however, it is the air traffic controller’s job to direct the pilot to fly within a traffic pattern designated for planes that are waiting to land.
During landing, pilots must radio the control tower personnel within a mile of approaching the runway. The air traffic controllers in the tower watch the plane on the radar and make sure no plane departures interfere with an arriving plane’s ability to land. Once a flight has landed, ground controllers use sight, and occasionally radar, to guide the pilots to the terminal gate.
The same practices are done in reverse when an airplane departs. People with ground controller jobs send departing planes to a designated runway. A local air traffic controller, who will clear the plane for take-off, informs the pilot of weather conditions such as visibility, wind speed, and wind direction. People with departure controller careers then guide the pilot out of the airport’s airspace. The air route traffic controllers notify en route controllers that the airplane is in the air.
Once an airplane is beyond an airport, it travels along one of thousands of designated routes, with the flight pattern being monitored and managed by a group of en route controllers. En route controllers work at one of 21 air route traffic control centers across the country. These centers manage a set airspace with numerous air routes. To stay on top of these routes, centers have 300 to 700 people in air traffic controller jobs, with the busiest centers having more than 150 working controllers during peak hours. These controllers use flight plans and radars to determine where planes should be at any given moment. If two planes are scheduled to enter a particular space at around the same time, the controllers will make arrangements for one of the planes to change course.
There are about 35 flight service stations manned by flight service specialists, as well. These specialists provide pre-flight and in-flight weather information to pilots, provide emergency assistance, manage searches for missing flights, and relay air traffic control information to pilots.
Air traffic controllers who work at the FAA’s Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center in Herndon, VA, manage the countrywide system, looking at all the areas to prevent bottlenecks or other flight plan problems in areas of high traffic.
Requirements to Pursue an Air Traffic Controller Career
In order to secure an air traffic controller job, an individual must be less than 31 years old and have a four-year degree and three years of work experience, or a combination of the two. He or she must also attend either the FAA Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative Program or the Minneapolis Community and Technical College, pass a pre-employment test, and obtain a school recommendation. Pre-employment test slots are limited, so individuals must sign up to be placed in a lottery in order to take the eight-hour exam.
If an individual is selected to become an employee, he or she must attend the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, OK, for a 12-week training program. Upon graduation, he or she is placed at an air traffic control facility as a developmental controller. It will take two to four years to complete all training certifications in order to become a full-fledged controller. The individual must also pass a physical exam once a year, as well as a job performance exam every two years. Controllers may be dismissed for not completing training or for failing any of the continuing certification exams.
