I'm within the top 10% of ATCers within the Flight Simulation community, arguably within the top 5%. I'm looking forward to going to college at some of the top aviation schools in the country, majoring in Air Traffic Control. For those of you who say it's easy, it's not. i've been training for almost 4 years, and will be training my entire life to safely and efficiently keep busy airports on time. For those of you who are already in the business, or are looking to get in, I salute you.

Been flying for 20 years. I used to visit the local tower @CYS back in the 70's as a kid. I'd climb up and they'd let me sit and watch for hours. Always had the highest regard for them. Fly into Oshkosh and you'll REALLY appreciate the job they do!

WOW!!!...I love these 'ATC's!!! Awesome job(s) that they performs & I LOVE the dedication of their work!!!! #levelheads

Several years ago I was a controller on VATSIM which is a virtual network for flight simulator pilots to fly, and follow strict real world procedures. When my ARTCC would have events pilots would swarm to our region and we would get hammered with planes. It was soooo stressful, but the most fun I ever had.

I am a controller at KSAN tower... not like Dulles! Thanks for the recognition!

As part of my schools instrument class we actually go visit a Center and TRACON just so we can get a view on both sides of the equation. I've never seen such a cool place in my life.

The coordination. Flight data and RAPCON assit positions I believe are the hardest in ATC.

Tough job one of the unsung heroes of aviation. Air traffic controller.

Computers actually already do fly airplanes (autopilot) even in landing (ILS). You are right, emergencies are hard to account for. Weather can be modeled pretty well, not good enough. Mainly we have pilots and air traffic controllers for A. someone to query if something bad happens (responsibility) and B. for these sorts of emergency cases.

Simply not true. I am an FAA air traffic controller, and I just finished a graduate level class where I did a 12 page research paper on just this topic. We will be lucky in 10 years to have the new center automation software (ERAM) running correctly. We have not even finished implementing ADS-B which is basically 9's technology. Google "archie league awards" and listen to some of those transmissions, tell me a computer could do that.

Could computers create the sequence, separate and line the airplanes up? Sure. Could computers deal with all the wacky requests from pilots, understand all the emergency situations, deal with constantly changing situations like weather, and non-responsive aircraft? Not a chance. Maybe in 200 years when robots are flying the airplanes.

Does ATC to aircraft pilot radio communications vary on the ground of a controlled airport from airport to airport concerning receipt of IFR clearance on designated frequencies such as Clearance Delivery, Ramp, Ground, Apron and Tower? IFR clearances can be obtained from contact with any of these Air Traffic Control units above dependent on the ATC operational procedures in force at that specific airport. Does the pilot of an Airline have to be trained by the Airline as to which ATC unit to contact to obtain the specific clearance required at each airport?

TRACON! woohooo!!!

@svtcobra281 I'm an FAA controller too, also with a computer engineering degree and I'd love to say a computer could do this job (it's a fun engineering problem to try to solve), but I have agree with you. ATC is an unsolvable problem for computers simply because of weather deviations. A human will always be required to pilot because of the need to assess the potential dangers from weather and decide on the proper deviation. So even the best computer ATC will somehow have to "negotiate" with human pilots and figure out a way to keep things going with the uncertainty of weather. How could a computer possibly interpret "we're not sure how far we need to go, we'll keep going until we find a hole" and make a plan? Despite 40 years of promises that computers will be as smart as humans in 10 years, it has never happened. And so far, only a human can look at weather returns, see its size and where it's going, and figure out a solution like to vector NE arrivals to the SE gate which means we need to get 25 in trail on both, and then put SW arrivals 15 in trail so we'll have enough spacing on final after they deviate around the cell SW of the airport. Computers can't come up with something like that.

yes, it is one of the most damn stressful job on the planet. imagine the controllers of the saudia 747 and some russian jet mid air collission in delhi about 15 years ago. a small mistake takes hundreds of lives. people are keen to appreciate the pilots but forgets the persons glued to the screens, listening to the radio and making mental calculations. controllers do an excellent job in keeping the planes safe on the ground and in the air.

Took a FAM trip and road jump seat with AAL a few months back. Captain ask me if a controller isn't that good are they washed to Dulles Tower? I said no.. Why? He replyed "worst controllers in the country".

kind of interesting

This is one of the top paid jobs in the world that doesn't require a degree, you can make starting $100,000.

I'm not gonna say ATC simulations aren't going to help you when it comes to ATC but I know it will give you a HUGE upper hand when you start training. I'm sure atc school will be a breeze for you. But the job can be very easy depending on where you are I guess. I love my location and have fun even though its the busiest tower in the Air Force. The one thing people don't ever realize about ATC is the coordination. That's usually the hardest part, not the traffic.

huh reuploaded nice!

Id argue splitting the atom is easier on some days!

if you dont have experience then you have no idea

Yea, it was the captains opinion.

... it's the number planes crashing around the world

I always considered becoming an Air Traffic Controller. Can anyone tell me what specific traits and skills are needed for the job?

I am thinking of studying Air Traffic Control, how do I know if I'm cut out for the job?

FAA would not allow that ha, they don't believe in using new technology. They still use old fashioned gyro systems in the plane. ATC still uses old radios with simplex communication, most navigation is ground based. Don't think 20 years would cut it.

Annoying clock in the top left.

your comment made me shiet my pants. hahahahahahaha!!

Yeah haha, that will never happen! Computers don't understand humans and can't apply the separation safely, they'd be doing squeeze plays all day!

i guess

Try doing brain surgery under time preasure knowing that for every lost second thousands of dollars are spent. Now add to this that you are forced to talk to 10 different people at the same time as you are tying to focus on your task. Not just talking but knowing, catching and understand every single syllable spoke to you. Now try doing this with good equipment one day to bad equipment the other. Ok, now you are pretty stressed...

Not anymore....you need a degree.

Captain opinion ? Yeah right. 99% of pilots don't know shit about ATC. In 20 years, 3 pilots visited our center. They don't get the whole picture and they don't care. Don't know the limitations of procedures or equipments. One example : always nagging to descent while they're over military airspace. Better approach in London ? Don't know how small our approach zone is... Not physically possible to do like in Heathrow. Could go on for years. Yet, 90% respect us as we do and relations are good.