How long are ATC shifts?

Work patterns Typically, controllers work on position for 90 to 120 minutes followed by a 30-minute break. Except at quieter airports, air traffic control is a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year job where controllers usually work rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and public holidays.



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Air traffic controllers typically work around 40 hours per week. However, specific air traffic controller work schedules may vary, and depend on several different factors, including: The airport they work for. The type of air traffic they are responsible for directing.

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Being an air traffic controller is an extremely high-stress job, with workers responsible for the movement and direction of thousands of lives onboard commercial and general aviation aircraft every day.

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Although air traffic controllers may not get free flights like flight attendants do, they still have attractive employee benefits. For example, their employers often give them permanent discounts which they can use to buy tickets and other products that the airport or a specific airline carries.

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Most air traffic control specialists work full time, and some work additional hours. Larger air traffic control facilities operate continuously, and employees may rotate among day, evening, and night shifts, along with weekends and holidays.

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No, actually it is a scene from the 1999 film Pushing Tin starring John Cusack, which is centered around the lives of two controllers. In reality, air traffic control is nothing like that, even during an emergency situation.

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When air traffic controllers are hired as trainees by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), they choose a geographical area in which they want to work. Beyond that, they usually don't have a lot of choice in the type of job they then enter, at least at first.

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The ATCs activity was closely monitored by scientists averaged 5.8 hours of sleep per day over the course of a work week. They averaged only 3.1 hours before midnight shifts and 5.4 hours before early morning shifts.

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Air traffic controllers qualify for a complete package of federal benefits, including annual leave, sick leave, and life and health insurance, according to the FAA. They also receive federal retirement benefits and can participate in the government's Thrift Savings Plan.

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And then there's the issue of age: In the US, air traffic controllers are required to retire at the age of 56, and the FAA won't hire anyone older than age 31, because they want candidates to have at least a 25-year career path.

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Controllers train for many years to qualify for the job, and only around 1% of applicants make it through to qualify. Initially, a controller will spend approximately 12 months studying both the practical and theoretical sides of air traffic control at a specialist college.

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Is ATC or pilot harder? Piloting, especially on large, complex aircraft, is largely a matter of training and practice. Talent is required, of course, but mostly you just have to put your hours in. In that sense, training and qualifying to be an airline pilot is more rigorous than becoming an ATC at a busy facility.

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3,177 newly hired controller candidates received training at the FAA Academy. Of these, only 98 candidates (3.1 percent) failed Academy training.

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It is essential, therefore, that pilots acknowledge each radio communication with ATC by using the appropriate aircraft call sign. Brevity is important, and contacts should be kept as brief as possible, but controllers must know what you want to do before they can properly carry out their control duties.

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Benefit from rewarding work. While working as an air traffic controller is undoubtedly stressful, those with the right mentality for the role often find their career choice incredibly satisfying.

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“I'm an air traffic controller, and there are about 139 federal standalone control towers in the United States,” he explained. “I work with one of them, and every night, 84 of those, about 60%, shut down. And all the controllers go home, and there's nobody there to work traffic.

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