air traffic controllers

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjt
  • Start date Start date

mjt

mjt

mjt

Soldato
Joined
31 Aug 2007
Posts
20,524
has anybody got first or second-hand experience with being an air traffic controller?

this caught my eye the other day and i've applied for a place at EUROCONTROL.
the training scheme, pay and job security are very good so it all seems win-win, apart from the possibility of death from stress :p

just interested to see if anybody has any views on this occupation..
 
Last edited:
I don't know about the job hands-on but I do know A LOT about it. I have always been fasinated with ATC from a young age. I always wanted to become one until I became a diabetic so that job went out the window :( I have one of those airband radios that can listen to the ATC in and around the London area. I would spend hours just sitting at home listening to the ATC conversations. Sad but true :P My cousin just married an Air Traffic Controller so I look forward to family outtings now haha
 
Sorry about the late reply to this thread. I am in the middle of moving house and am between internet connections!

Do you have any particular questions about the job?

To give you some insight, I work as a radar controller in a big centre nowhere near any airports, something similar to what you'd be doing in Eurocontrol. I work a piece of airspace called London TMA North, i.e. the piece of airspace that sits above all the London airports apart from Gatwick. My job is to take the departures straight from the tower controller off the deck and climb them through all the inbounds to the same airports whilst descending all of the inbounds through the previously mentioned ouotbounds.

Without going into thousands of words about how that is achieved I'll tell you that I love my job. I'm 23 years old and on about £65k a year with loads of leave and overtime and as far as I'm aware, the folk over in Eurocontrol have better pay and conditions so if you can get in there you'll be laughing! For example, last year (from memory) I worked a total of 178 days in the year. Awesome money and awesome amounts of time off.

There is a downside to it though. If you ever **** up (and it does happen) it's your head on the chopping block. Due to a few incidents in work on top of a load of other things I had going on in my personal life, I had a breakdown just over a month ago and completely lsot the plot. Controllers in general like to say that the job isn't stressful due to pride but I'll tell you it bloody well is at times. Some times I have waled out of work into the car park and have been unable to put the car key into the ignition due to my head being completely fried.

Days such as those don't come too often though so it makes it all worthwhile. I'm speaking about the London TMA too which is a hell of a difference from some upper airspace over Europe but the same principles apply.

As far as a career, it's awesome. I couldn't be happier. I thoroughly recommend it to you if you're up to the task. It's a thankless job in terms of public opinion compared to piloting for example since they all think you're the guy out on the apron with the ping pong bats but you do it for the money, the perks and the job satisfaction, not other people :)

If you decide to go ahead I wish you the best of luck. It's not easy to get into but if you succeed be confident that you're one out of thousands who couldn't make the grade and be proud of that.

I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you may have, :)
 
How long does it take to become an air traffic controller Scuzi ? and what qualifications are needed.

This really interests me.
 
i'm interested scuzi, do you know of where i should apply for a job in this field in scotland? more specifically edinburgh?
 
.one. said:
How long does it take to become an air traffic controller Scuzi ? and what qualifications are needed.

This really interests me.
Click to expand...

It depends vastly on the disclipline you go into whether it be aerodrome, approach or area control, and the airspace or aerodrome in which you control. Some are easier than others. For example, it is not uncommon for someone to validate at London City tower within a year of starting training as it is a fairly simple operation in comparison. It took me three years from starting training to validate (the term used for fully qualifying) on TMA north which is regarded as one of the busiest and most complex pieces of airspace in the world. It wasn't easy and there were loads of exams and hundreds of hours of practical on the job trainig but I enjoyed most of it and was paid a fair wage during the training so can't complain :)

I left school after getting 3 crap A levels. I wasn't interested in school for various reasons and was lucky enough to have the aptitude for ATC. NATS currently require only 5 GCSEs if I remember correctly. Academic qualifications are largely irrelevant. Some of the best controllers I know left school at 16 and some of the worst I know have Masters Degrees. You either have the aptitude or you don't, it's as simple as that.

Check out www.natscareers.co.uk for more info. I'd be happy to answer any more questions if you have any, :)
 
What are the migration opertunities like with the job? is it possible to get trained here and then, say, move to an employer in the states?
 
What sort of display do you use to show all the aircraft in your airspace and their current altitudes? If everything was at the same altitude then i see no problem, but trying to visualise where the planes are in 3D space using only a 2D birds eye view (if it is the same in real life as the movies) as a display it must be hard to keep track of where every plane is and is going (not just the direction but also the altitude as it descends/ascendes).
 
I saw training for air traffic controllers being advertised here recently. The big selling point was the $$$ and full training included. Then I remembered a previous thread I'd read from Scuzi about the pressure and how on a select few actually have the stones to qualify and thought not for me. But full credit to those who do this for a living...
 
I applied once for the equivalent in Switzerland and I must say the selection was really rough, and I was not taken. A lot of test, that you must pass or its a direct fail. Like having some radio conversation in your headphone you while you have to do something else. Plenty of coordination tests and such. At some point you have to pass a medical inspection to be sure you are not a junkie or have mental issues. This goes on for something silly like a few months. And then you start the real formation which is something like 2 years in Switzerland.

All this to say that the amount of people that subscrided were plenty and only a few were taken.
 
lewism said:
What are the migration opertunities like with the job? is it possible to get trained here and then, say, move to an employer in the states?
Click to expand...
Not possible to move to the USA due to licencing differences and because controllers in the USA are employed by the FAA, a government department, the posts are only open to American citizens.
The licence is good pretty much everywhere else though. A lot of our controllers are moving out to Dubai at the minute due to the potential for massive earnings (circa £10k a month tax free).


Dist said:
What sort of display do you use to show all the aircraft in your airspace and their current altitudes? If everything was at the same altitude then i see no problem, but trying to visualise where the planes are in 3D space using only a 2D birds eye view (if it is the same in real life as the movies) as a display it must be hard to keep track of where every plane is and is going (not just the direction but also the altitude as it descends/ascendes).
Click to expand...
We have great big 30" displays showing the radar picture. Believe me, when everything is at the same altitude that's when you have BIG problems! :p


Cybergangster said:
I saw training for air traffic controllers being advertised here recently. The big selling point was the $$$ and full training included. Then I remembered a previous thread I'd read from Scuzi about the pressure and how on a select few actually have the stones to qualify and thought not for me. But full credit to those who do this for a living...
Click to expand...
It's not as bad as it sounds to be honest. The training is tough and it is relentless - only a fraction of the people who start training actually validate but when you do pass everything and are doing it on your own it's easier because you've had years of training to prepare you for pretty much anything. Mistakes are made by everyone and we all have our bad days but most of the time the job is enjoyable and due to the massive amounts of time off and breaks in the day, relatively stress free. A lot of the time when I'm controlling I'm sitting with my chair fully reclined and am fairly chilled out. It's not the high pressure sweatbox 24/7 that it can be made out to be.
 
How much did training cost? must have been a lot. I'm considering training to be a pilot. Would love to be a pilot and just cruise the skies in my free time in a private jet. Woo. lol.
 
Scuzi Would you suggest that people try been ATC on VATSIM or that other one IVEO ? to see if they can handle it first. Would that provide a good idea of what to expect or not? as i Know VATSIM has lots of training materials
 
What Scuzi said.

I work with Scuzi and agree mostly with what he says. I will just say though that you won't know how the job will effect you until you do it.

I've been doing it over 10 years now and there's rarely a day when I'm in work that I don't think to myself how lucky I am.
 
Ben Cole said:
What Scuzi said.

I work with Scuzi and agree mostly with what he says. I will just say though that you won't know how the job will effect you until you do it.

I've been doing it over 10 years now and there's rarely a day when I'm in work that I don't think to myself how lucky I am.
Click to expand...

How lucky you are to work with Scuzi or to be working in that industry?:p. I must admit I've given this industry some serious thought over the past few months. I will more than likely apply after I've got the purchase of my new flat out the way then get the ball moving.

Do you work alternate shifts? e.g. one week nights, the next days etc?
 
I used to want to become an ATCO but once I got my degree done and into flexi hours job in IT I just lost interest in applying. I get enough of my aviation fix from the occasional flying lesson here and there! The idea of 65k a year is nice but I don't think the lifestyle is what everybody wants with a lot of shift work etc. Also you cannot really dictate where you are posted so unless you are willing to move anywhere in the UK it is a big decision. Best of luck if you do apply. I'm sure it is a wonderful job!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom