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ATC Job Qualifications

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Richard Gozinya

Vikings Fan
Joined
Feb 10, 2006
Posts
478
Looking for info on qualifications for ATC specialists. I have seen the listed requirements, but it is quite vague. Specifically, do you need a 4 year degree and is there a specialized school you could attend that would aid in the process to get interviewed.

Thanks in advance,

Dick Gozinya
 
You dont need any quals or a 4 yr degree. We just washed out an expaint salesman in my area.
It just takes being the unlucky one to get the job.

ps. you must be crazy to want to work for the faa under the current pay and work rules
 
Looking for a possible avenue for my future son-in-law. Yea, my spare bedroom is not an option. Is the app something to be done online in the FAA website?

Thanks for the info.

Dick
 
You dont need any quals or a 4 yr degree. We just washed out an expaint salesman in my area.
It just takes being the unlucky one to get the job.

ps. you must be crazy to want to work for the faa under the current pay and work rules

Is the FAA that bad now? I miss ATC every day as I walk into my regional airline dispatch office.
 
oh well you should have said the son in law was living with you. then it would be a perfect job for him.

yes the working conditions are that bad. i miss the cockpit of my challenger, lear, md80, and even c172
 
They're not hiring off the street though right? Also what is the difference between ATC Specialist Developmental/RMC? Does it loook like they'll start hiring off the street soon? Would the work rules and conditions improve due to a lack of ATC over the next few years? Thanks for the info.
 
Payton is correct Wait a year or two to apply. An administration change this November is the only hope the current state of unfairness will change. If you like making half what the guy sitting next makes for doing the same job, then air traffic controller is the job for you. You may think that you could do that job for half cause that is still better money than Walmart until you've been there and done the job and realize you are under paid for a job only a few people in this world have the certain quality it takes to be an air traffic controller. Not everyone has what it takes just like not everyone has what it takes to be a pilot or surgeon or anyother highly skilled job. Don't help the FAA make the ATC profession turn out like the Airlines have done to the pilot profession. By the way, PAYTON I know who you are, look at my name and you should know who I am.
 
If you like making half what the guy sitting next makes for doing the same job, then air traffic controller is the job for you. You may think that you could do that job for half cause that is still better money than Walmart until you've been there and done the job and realize you are under paid for a job only a few people in this world have the certain quality it takes to be an air traffic controller.


sounds like life at the regional airlines...im considering making the jump as well to ATC
 
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Guys and Gals,
I hate to be the optimist here, but it was like this after the strike too. If you have a desire to try, then do it now! Seniority will benefit you down the road if you're qualified and make the training cut. When I came in back in the 1980s, a lot of people were being washed out. Now the FAA has dumbed this down so much that almost anyone can do it, and they have employed a "train to succeed" mantra. Don't listen to the bad press put out by NATCA. This is a great job. And in today's economy, you won't find anything better than a govt pension at the end. I have an ASA pilot living in my home, and I can tell you first hand the difference in what he has to put up with in terms of BS from his employer far outweighs what the FAA is doing these days. Its not perfect, but nothing is. Every job will have its issues. I love my job, even under the new work rules and pay.
 
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atl pilot must be management....

but seriously....

yes, seniority is everything but you're too late. they've hired so many already you will never hold straight weekends off. i was hired at the very beginning of the wave and already have about 20 below me in my area alone....about 100 in the building.

yes, they have dumbed down training but apparently they are getting ready to change the way training is done at the academy...expect to see more fail out. and we have plenty failing out at my facility...not like it used to be though.

NATCA doesn't spout bad press, they spout the truth. we are losing 4 controllers per day to retirement and resignations. the faa waited too long to start hiring. we are understaffed. many facilities are working 6 day work weeks. you will do shift work and work holidays. the pay is crap at smaller facilities. pay was cut by 30% across the board. most management couldn't separate 2 planes and that's why they are management. i could go on and on.....
 
No atl pilot is just a controller living under the imposed work rules. However, its all what you make it. Just like any job.
 
I loved that movie... Pushing Tin... where doI sign up?

My FO last month said the same thing about "Catch Me if You Can"...thought being a pilot'd be a great job for picking up chicks, and then spent the month trying to kill me. I think Frank Abagnale knew more about flying than him. Tragically, he's not one of the 27 getting furloughed.
 
Sounds like the fAA is hiring just about anything with a pulse. I was getting the aTIS a few weeks ago at my home airport and it sounded like an ebonix lesson. Then, getting the full rout clearance, the controller was reading and giggling when they messed up, which was alot. Also, the clearance contained an unusual amount of "uh's" and "Um's".
 

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