FAO Scuzi - ATCO Questions

itsallaboutyou

itsallaboutyou

itsallaboutyou

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Joined
11 Mar 2005
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Scuzi,

As a well travelled man - I assume (well hope!) that you'll have the answers to some of my questions..

I'm considering a change of career - and ATCO looks like something that would interest me, however I do have a few reservations..

I'm currently a Civil Engineer for a multinational - which is fantastic - but to be honest I'm getting bored and I think I'm still young enough to make a change - but I'd have to do it soon(ish).

Could you tell me a little bit more about your job? I assume your employed by NATS?

If its not too presumptious - what is the starting salary like, assuming I would be a trainee? I'm a mortgage payer and obviously wouldnt want to jeopardise that - but as I read more and more about the job - it seems like a very worthwhile career and something that I would enjoy!

I know its a stressful job and its not all Angelina Jolie / Bill Bob Thornton esque - but I am interested in finding out more..

Any info you could give would be fantastic.

I must also stress that I'm not rushing into anything - I'm just weighing things up...

Cheers in advance :)

Tom*
 
itsallaboutyou said:
Sorry! It was my attempt to add a bit of humour - they were in a film called Pushing Tin - where he was an air traffic controller - guessin you kinda have to see it..

Sorry!

Tom*
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I thought Pushing Tin was about C3PO needing the toilet.
 
Scuzi is a danger to the skies...

Still, im interested in his upcoming reply :p
 
Afternoon.

I don't know where to start, there's quite a lot to tell. I'll tell you what I think of it though. I love it. Before I started I was determined to get into commercial aviation and was doing my PPL at Belfast International. On a bad weather day, my instructor arranged for me to take a trip over to the tower to have a look a what they do. I spent the day plugged in listening and watching and was hooked. As soon as I turned 18, I fired in an application and here I am today :D
I work for NATS at London Terminal Control now based at Swanwick in Hampshire. I'm not based at an airport or anything as we don't need to be, we work with radar. I work the North sector of the London TMA (Terminal Control Area - bit of low level airspace surrounding all the major london airports). My job is to talk to departures from Heathrow, Luton, Stansted, London City, Northolt, Cambridge, Southend, Gatwick, Southampton etc.. from the ground and climb them up to an agree level (usually around 15,000ft) before passing them to en-route control who climb them to their cruise level. As well as that, we have to deal with the inbounds to all these airports and descend them through the departures before passing them to approach control who put the aircraft onto the approach to land. This is done using radar and radio. We observe the aircraft in radar and tell them what to do over the radio. Given the small dimensions of the airspace and the sheer volume of traffic, it keeps you on your toes and can get a bit hectic. That's what I love about it though, it never gets boring.

Conditions are excellent. When staff levels are at average, I work 30 mins them take a 30 minute break. When we have more staff than usual, that is usually 30 mins of work followed by a 1 hour break :D Worst case scenario when things go **** up is 1.5-2 hours working with a 30-45 minute break.
All work is shift work. My shift cycle is 6 days on, 4 days off. The 6 days always begin with 2 mornings (0700-1400), 2 afternoons (1400-2200) and 2 nights (2200-0700). As less people are required on night shifts, I normally do 2 mornings then 4 afternoons.

Now, the training process has changed quite a bit since I went through. Assuming you are doing area control which most people will do, training at the college will take around 9 months - 1 year after which you are posted to your unit, most likely Swanwick. Unit training takes around 2 years which involves simulator training at the start then training with live traffic until you reach the standard. That's about 3 years in total on average. Some take a bit less but most take a bit more.

The salary whilst at the college is now £10k + a living allowance of £400 a month (I think).
Whilst unit training, assuming you get posted to Swanwick, the salary goes to £14k on starting then up to £18k as you progress. On finishing your training after the 3 years, the salary jumps to approximately £52k rising to £60k within the year. It then progresses up to a maximum of about £100k (at present) but that takes about 8-10 years although in 8-10 years it'll be significantly more than £100k, probably more like £150k.
Given the hours worked and the amount of leave (With tactical planning I have 12 weeks off work between now and November!!) the pay is excellent. Overtime is paid at £550 per day. Not bad for 7 hours work!

Don't say the word stress! It's not usually as bad as people make out. Most of the time it isn't too bad but there are times that it can become very stomach churning. That's what you get paid for though. If everything goes to plan then there isn't much stress at all. It's when things go wrong that it gets stressful and they can and do go wrong. There have been days when I have walked out of work and have been unable to drive home due to mental exhaustion and stress but those are few and far between. You'll be well trained to deal with it though.

EDIT: Another point, the training takes place at the college in Bournemouth. You'll be required to move down there. You will also have to sign a mobility agreement meaning that if you are posted somewhere, you have to go. You don't get a choice in where you are posted so if they post you to lets say, Aberdeen, you have to go. That's unlikely though. You do need to be flexible for a few years but once you are posted that's it, they won't move you.

I don't know what else I can say. If you have any questions on the matter please ask.:)
 
Thorpy said:
Six days on 4 days off sounds bloody awesome
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Yeah, it's great. The only downside is that I often work weekends and public holidays, including Christmas. I worked 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of December last. It wasn't great because I wanted to go back to see my family in Ireland but it had to be done.
 
Blooming heck, are those the actual wage figures without promotion? Or is that just an 'average' career progression?
 
Stringy said:
Blooming heck, are those the actual wage figures without promotion? Or is that just an 'average' career progression?
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Yeah, that's just the ATCO wages. To progress above about £85k you need to get promoted to a grade 1 ATCO which carries more responsibilities but pretty much anyone can be upgraded. The salary increases every april by about 3-4k.
 
Scuzi, I went to a testing day (or whatever the first interview type thing they give you is called) at NATS about seven years ago now, when I was 17 and passed everything except the spatial awareness. Do you know if they're still doing the same testing as back then (I see no reason why they'd change it)? Don't suppose they give you any tips about improving spatial awareness you could pass on? :)
 
Wow, didn't realise there was so much pay for how little time you're sat there. I suppose it's to make up for the times when you're left in that mental wreck state. Do you get extra time off if there's a huge incident that would cause that, or are you just expected to turn up the next day the same?
 
Hi Scuzi - thanks for your quick reply and very in depth post!

It does seem like a fantastic opportunity - the only problem I can see as a trainee is the pay! I may take the deg approach and see where that takes me. As I completed my degree whilst on the job over the past 5 years, I'm not earning a bad salary! Its not a barrier to changin careers - but it just means I'd have to work that little bit harder to ensure my mortgage is paid etc etc.. and the bloomin council tax has gone up!

I'm going to contact the HR/Personnel people and ask their advice from a HR point of view - there may be an alternative route *here's hoping!*

But the salary progression once the training is complete is er *cough* rather fantastic - so thats another plus point! :)

In terms of stress etc - I'm glad you mentioned that (although I'll avoid direct use of the word from now on!) - I suppose like every job it has it's ups and downs (no pun intended - honestly!) but as you mention the training is good and at the end of the day that's what you're paid for!

I think I'm going to seriously consider this - I'll let you know how I get on - and probably pester you with more questions!

Cheers again sir,

Tom*
 
Masterdog said:
Scuzi, I went to a testing day (or whatever the first interview type thing they give you is called) at NATS about seven years ago now, when I was 17 and passed everything except the spatial awareness. Do you know if they're still doing the same testing as back then (I see no reason why they'd change it)? Don't suppose they give you any tips about improving spatial awareness you could pass on? :)
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I've spent all afternoon on the NATS website and you can download an example paper from here

Gives some pointers at the end!

Tom*
 
itsallaboutyou said:
I've spent all afternoon on the NATS website and you can download an example paper from here

Gives some pointers at the end!

Tom*
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Last time I downloaded their sample papers, I thought I was quids in. Then I went to the actual test and it was at least ten times harder :) Thanks for the link tho, always good to practice spatial things.
 
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