Cristaldi, NATCA President at Long Beach Tower, says that the government is far underestimating the number of upcoming retirements and overestimating the availability of qualified candidates to take their places. Most of this growth is not due to the increase in air traffic (technological advancements are allowing the same number of controllers to handle more traffic), but to the fact that the majority of current air traffic controllers are approaching retirement age. Most air traffic controllers belong to a union, and NATCA is the largest controllers union in the U.S.Īccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of ATC jobs is expected to grow through the year 2018. The program has grown over the years, and there are now many privately-operated control towers. In the wake of the 1981 PATCO strike, the FAA decided to contract out operation of some of its smaller air traffic control facilities. In the past, nearly all civilian air traffic controllers worked for the FAA. Search Air Traffic Controller Job Listings. In one year, controllers handle an average of 64 million takeoffs and landings. At any given moment, roughly 5,000 planes are in the skies above the United States.
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That’s a lot of flights, and not all those airplanes are big commercial airliners flown by industry giants such as American or United. Each day, air controllers guide more than 90,000 flights in the skies in the United States. If you’re looking for a mental challenge that far surpasses any Sudoku game, have a high tolerance for stress, and don’t mind an exceptionally-long training program, an FAA job as an air traffic controller may appeal to you.