Well, the ATC career is a good career but it's not just something you decide to do and then do it.
The FAA has projected that there are going to be thousands of controllers retiring in the next 10 years and they need to replace them. As of now, the academy is not producing anyone. This contract FSS stuff has really slowed stuff down for us already in the ATC world. No moving going on whatsoever. The FSS people who want to be controllers are being offered anything and everything practically not giving us people who have done it the right way and certified everywhere we've been to move up. Its a wierd system. For example, a few years ago a controller goes to a center and washes out, they then move on to a level 7,8,or 9 tower, washout, move to a 5 certifiy, keep the level 11 or 12 pay from the center and work the smaller facilities. Then you take people whom the FAA throw in small facilties as a starting point, certify, make 3/4 what the was out makes and in most cases has a better control of traffic and produces a much safer enviornment for pilots. I think its a messed up system and it has fianlly changed. You get hired and washed now your gonna get the boot which is the way it should be.
Other issues, our NATCA contract is up come september. The old administrator was fine with the old contract and kept things as is. The new one is into cutting the budget so much that alot of things are going to change. I wouldn't be suprised to see CIP pay cut, overtime pay cut, and sunday pay cut. Facilties are understaffed as is and with more and more overtime being avaliable for anyone at any facilty, not being fairly compensated for the overtime in my opinion is a lack of respect from our management and the higher ups as to what service we actually give to the public. Nothing worse then a tired controller working lots of traffic when they don't want to be there. Its a dangerous situation.
In my opinion, the FAA isn't going to hire as many people as they say they are. They are going to keep staffing tight which is going to affect every controllers work schedule and leave. Its gonna be a hard thing to get leave, to take your vacation when you want to and so on.
My humble opinion is it is going to get worse, and the only wake up call the FAA is going to get that the staffing crisis isn't a myth, is when they have multiple midairs and then maybe they will understand that they can't have us working under these conditions. I know first hand that ZOA is running manditory 6 days. If they lost the overtime anyone elegible to retire will and then where will they be? Oh, we need to get some people there to work, well it takes anywhere between 2 to 3 years to certify at a center and I have a feeling corners will be cut and people who don't apply the rules and don't have a nack at this business are going to be un supervised and working long hours.
Im not saying you have to be a god to be a controller, im pretty close....j/k, but it takes the right personality and the right mentality to pull it off. This job is an art. I wish you the best if you decide to come along for the ride but things aren't the way they used to be.
I went to the academy in sep03. Level5salary pay plus 3k perdium for 7 weeks. Now days at the academy, perdium is cut, there is none and I think salary is like 15k a year, you will qualify for foodstamps. "WELCOME to the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!" I love this job but there is alot of unfairness. I know life isn't fair but its difficult to move up in this business right now when they have no one to replace you with.
The money is great and so are the benefits, but in all respect, if i made 40k a year flying a CRJ or ERJ rightnow id trade it anytime.
MK
