Gone from pilot to controller?

[Ride High]

Don't lose hope if your don't get the call. Research the NATCA.com website. They have extended the two years, however in 2004 they lost 500 controllers and only hired 13 do to the budget cuts. Good luck it seems like a cool job

 

[smellthejeta]

I got hired six months after graduation, and about 1 month after filling out my final paperwork. I submitted my security paperwork a couple of weeks ago, and the paperwork said 45-60 days for the background. The medical office said it's taking more like three months, and the medical office won't schedule my exam until my background check is completed. In my case, that's actually a good thing. If I walked in to the exam within the next few weeks, I'd flunk it.

As far as the coin goes, it's tied to your facility rating. There supposedly some rules about the levels of facility you can get assigned out of CTI school, but the short and sweet of it is that current year graduates are offered positions at the ARTCC"s. We'll see $100k+ after becoming CPC. That is, unless Maid Marion shoves the paycuts down our throats that she's looking for.

FWIW, I only did 18.5 credits at school. I know guys taking less than that and finishing in one semester. The Minneapolis program that a previous poster talked about in 2002 was a different program than its current incarnation. The current program is inline structurally with the other 13 schools, in its previous form it was a direct route to being hired at a Center and skipping OKC.

My guess is that in a few years, the time lag from graduation to OKC will shorten. However, for the guys looking to go to school in the next year or so, you really need a viable job to tide you over.