Greetings,
I'm considering becoming an Air Traffic Controller. I've been working at Eagle for 2 years and am not sure I want to fly for a living anymore. I have a few questions about the job.
How do schedules work? Are they month to month by seniority? Are they eight hour days? How many days a week do you work? We work a straight 8 hour shift and may be held over for an additiional 2 hours, traffic requiring for OT (time and a half money). Then we must have an 8 hour break before the next shift. We may only work 6 days in a row. If you work the 6th day, its also OT. Each facility does thier schedules different, but you will know your schedule is at least a month in advance (not like the airlines where its month to month, our skeds are kinbda dynamic adding a week every week or so, but always a month out). Days off, vacations, etc are done by seniority. Some places have set schedules and RDOs (regular days off), others have rotating RDOs. Some places work a week of days, then a week of eves. Others (like SDF and MEM run full mid-shifts b/c traffic requires it). Some places work an evening shift, then as your week progresses your start time gets earlier and earlier, so that on your last day you have an early AM shift or a mid. This is all determined by local needs and decided by NATCA internally within the facility.
What jobs are sought after the most? Center? Approach? Tower? Are certain areas of the country sought after? How hard is it to get your choice of facilities? A check out (and the pay raises that come with it) will come much quicker in a Tower or small appraoch control facility. The Centers are taking several years to fully-certify a new controller. We have had several new folks at ATL Tower that ave gone from new to fully-certified in under a year. In fact, we have a former EGF pilot going through the training currently.
I understand there is a shortage of controllers. Why? How long will this shortage last? Will the demand be high for several years? The shortage exists b/c in 1981 President Reagan fired all the PATCO controllers. We (controllers) can retire after 20 years of live traffic (we call this "good time") if you are 50 years old, or after 25 years of service at any age , and start drawing your govt pension plus a social security supplement until you turn 62 ( I will retire 1 month after I turn 48 and will be getting roughly a $60,000 annual pension). 1981 + 25 years = 2006. Many of us are eligible and have gone. Many will be eligible over the next few years and will go. The FAA was warned by NATCA back in the 1990s that they needed to start hiring and they didn't in a timely fashion, so now there's a huge knee jerk reaction to get folks in.
If you are a controller, do you enjoy the job? If you flew professionally before, do you regret leaving your flying job? I love my job and you will not find any with better benefits and retirement in this economy! Jump while the taking is good! There have been a few other in detailed posts under the ATC header on FIFO which depict the answers to many of the questions you may not have yet, but will. Go surfung and see what you learn. Don't listen to the NATCA propogranda. This is a great job even under the new work rules and pay scales. Take while the taking is good!! And remember the hiring process is not fast - the new folks we have have consistantly said it took unpward of a year before the were hired. Plus you must be hired before you turn 31, so don't wait....submit your application!!
Thanks ahead of time for the help...
