What are the chances of getting hired as an air traffic controller?

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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But it can also be a high-stress job, and becoming an air traffic controller involves a grueling training process that can typically take between 18 months and three years. The training requires a series of tests, skills assessments, and both physical and psychological exams.

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Job Outlook Employment of air traffic controllers is projected to show little or no change from 2022 to 2032. Despite limited employment growth, about 2,000 openings for air traffic controllers are projected each year, on average, over the decade.

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Applicants to air traffic controller positions who are maintaining 52 weeks of ATC experience involving the full-time active separation of air traffic after receiving an air traffic certification or ATC facility rating, must be age 35 or below on closing date of the announcement.

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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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0.5% of applicants are successful.

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Most often, developmental controllers who fail field qualification training are terminated from employment. However, in some cases, field-training failures may request reassignment to a lower volume and less complex ATC facility.

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The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic also contributed to the staffing issues at the FAA, and according to the audit, the pause on air traffic control training prevented any further increase in staffing. Training has resumed, which means there are more controllers in training, especially at critical facilities.

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What are the age requirements for individuals without previous air traffic control (ATC) experience? Candidates applying to an ATCS Trainee announcement must be age 30 or below, cannot be age 31 as of the closing date of the vacancy.

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Air traffic controllers receive 13 to 26 days of paid vacation and 13 days of paid sick leave each year. They are eligible to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service as an active air traffic controller or after 25 years of active service at any age.

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Some functions of ATC (air traffic control) are manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 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.

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Over the past five years, the FAA has hired over 7,200 new air trafic controllers. In FY 2020, we exceeded our target with 920 controller hires versus a plan of 910 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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(1) A psychosis; (2) A neurosis; (3) Any personality disorder or mental disorder that the Federal Air Surgeon determines clearly indicates a potential hazard to safety in the Air Traffic Control System.

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The primary responsibility of Atlanta Center is sequencing and separation of over-flights, arrivals, and departures in order to provide safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of aircraft. Atlanta Center is the busiest air traffic control facility in the world.

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The work can be high-stress and sometimes boring. Being an air traffic controller can be stressful due to the heavy workload and high-consequence environment, however, the job can also be dull and boring depending on how busy the skies are.

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The argument for mandatory retirement appears to have been that (a) the mid 50s were the ages in which burnout was likely to occur among controllers as a result of job stress, (b) age 56 would allow a controller to accumulate 25 years or more of creditable service if hired at the proposed maximum entry age of 31, and ...

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Because the job is so demanding, Air Traffic Controllers have a mandatory retirement at age 56. For special provisions, your pension is more generous than your fellow traditional federal employees.

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On top of contollers' rocky history, federal law requires that they retire at 56, in part because controllers have to stay current on advancing technology. The Federal Aviation Administration argues burnout gets more acute for workers by their mid 50s.

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