Professional Air Traffic Control

* Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from a board-recognized United States college or university, or an equivalent degree.

To meet the Board’s educational requirements, the applicant must hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited, Board-recognized U.S. college or university. Institutions that do not qualify include community colleges, two-year colleges, correspondence schools, continuing education courses, or technical schools. An official transcript must be submitted with the AOI for verification.

The odds are that at some point in time, most people in America will travel by air. What most of these people do not realize is that a simple flight is in reality a well-oiled, complex machine unlike any other air navigation service provider in the world. After the Wright brothers took their first successful flight, America embraced air travel.  The Federal Aviation Agency (now Administration) officially began operations in May of 1958, and later developed a sophisticated air traffic control system that is responsible for the largest volume of air traffic in the world (“A Brief History of the FAA”). Today, however, many politicians believe that government involvement in air traffic control is inhibiting the overall performance of air traffic control. Several bills have been proposed to Congress since the 1970s in attempt to separate air traffic control (referenced as ATC) from the FAA by privatization, corporatization, or other means (Elias 2). The most recent of these bills has caused serious debate in the aviation world over economic policies, safety regulations, and overall effectiveness of the current ATC system. The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act (21st Century AIRR Act) as proposed by Representative Bill Shuster should not be passed by Congress because it would privatize air traffic control by removing it from the Federal Aviation Administration. This would entail the creation of a board of stakeholders who would have the power to make regulatory

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 shook the United States in a profound way, deeply upsetting the national perception of safety within U.S. borders. No industry or sector of the economy felt the impacts of these events more than the airline industry. Both the immediate reaction to the attacks and the long-term repercussions have negatively affected the industry. Today’s airline industry is much different than it was prior to September 11. There is a much smaller work force, more low-cost carriers, more security and more fees associated with flying.

Airline security managers must be knowledgeable of public safety and security in an airport setting, discern how to use all security equipment and procedures, be familiar with all local, state, and federal airport security requirements and be aware of any new legislation. This manager must also have skills in administrative, monetary planning and analysis, understand how to use computers, software programs and technology, and recognize how to react in a large crisis situation or disaster (2011).

Privatizing the United States air traffic control operations may move closer to becoming a reality in 2017 – something most airline companies and other industry leaders have been pushing for a long time. Proponents of shifting away from government control introduced a bill last year that the incoming president has expressed a willingness to carefully consider. Rep. Bill Shuster (R), who helped draft the legislation, sees the long overdue shift to satellite-based air traffic management as the solution to lower costs for operators, while making air traffic safer and more efficient for all stakeholders. Whether global air travel is privately run or government controlled, call center voice recording activities will still be necessary to ensure control tower staff are fully trained and conversations are documented for

In the next 7 years there is an expected surge in the availability of jobs for pilots in the United States. With the amount of baby boomer pilots retiring there is a traditional way for them to be replaced: The pilots from the lesser paid regional airlines (Delta Connection, United Express etc. affiliates) interview and move up to the mainline carriers (American, Delta, United) and graduates from flight programs (Auburn, Embry Riddle, University of North Dakota) take the spots of the regional airline pilots. This system has been the way that civilian pilots have climbed the career ladder for years and has worked in the past, but currently it is running on borrowed time. The 2000s have been a hard time

On August 3, 1981, nearly 13,000 of the 17,500 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) staged a walk out and strike. There were four main reasons the union members of PATCO decided to go on strike. First, to address the concerns by members who felt that their work was seriously undervalued and under-rewarded. The second reason was that the Federal Aviation Administration had neglected serious deficiencies in staffing and hardware reliability. Thirdly, their work week was unreasonably long, especially when compared to controllers overseas. The fourth reason for the strike was the FAA’s (FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION) approach to management-union relations and the

The only experience required is a high school or general education diploma. Since it is a trainee position, it is a accessible to most anyone interested in the position. From the position of trainee, after some time, one may progress to a full-fledged technician.

Likewise, flight orderlies are instructed how to deal with extraordinary circumstances, for example, commandeering and fear based oppressor dangers, and they figure out how to work crisis frameworks and hardware amid spontaneous arrivals. Applicants who finish the preparation program get the FAA's Certificate of Demonstrated Proficiency and are ensured as flight chaperons.

The national aviation system is under increasing demand for more and more flights as air passenger numbers continue to rise. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2015-2035 report estimates an annual growth of 2.0 percent per year from 2016-2035. This will equate to an average of 1.14 billion passengers flying within the U.S. per year by the end of year 2035 (n.d., p. 47). As the number of aircraft flying increase to accommodate passenger demand, the number of aircraft delays and risk to flight safety are also likely to increase. The current air traffic control (ATC) infrastructure evolved from the World War II era and wasn’t designed to handle the predicted air traffic loads of the 21st century (Hopkin, Wise & Garland, 2010). In order to update the ATC system to increase its capacity, the FAA, along with other select governing bodies have started implementing NextGen.

Within the past decade, there has been large talk about ATC privatization. Air Traffic Control (ATC) are the individuals which keep the aircraft operating efficiently and safely while in the national airspace system. ATC Privatization is removing the air traffic control services out of the government's hands and into a privatized corporation. The FAA or Federal Aviation Administration, is a branch of the Department of Transportation which is solely responsible for the rules and regulations in which certificated pilots must adhere to when operating aircraft within the United States national airspace system.

Once someone joins the Airlines industry as a professional, be it a pilot, a technician, or an air traffic controller, they are committing to a certain level of responsibility and expectation. In my experience I have come across professionals who I have felt suited their role to near perfection while others in the same position at times fall short of basic expectations.

According to Woody (2017) when talking about the shortage of pilots in the Air Force the Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said “ We are in a crisis. If we don’t find a way to turn this around, our ability to defend the nation is compromised.” According to Pawlyk (2017) the Secretary of the Air Force, Heather Wilson, the Air Force is in need of 2,000 pilots. This is a very large shortage because the Air Force only has about 20,000 pilots total so that is a relatively large shortfall. That means that the Air Force needs 10% more pilots than they currently have. That means there is a huge shortage in pilots and there are multiple things causing this issue.

SMF’s location provides for the most efficient flight operations and the future airport developments will cost-effectively satisfy the growing aviation demand in the area. The runway, taxiway, and ramp configurations at SMF provide an efficient access system for arriving and departing aircraft today, but there are current assessments in progress of runway lengths required for future non-stop service to European and Asian destinations. The current instrument and visual landing systems meet the required flight operations standards based on the airports total flight operations and weather. The air traffic control system is state-of-the-art and meets the current and future operational requirements well into the year 2035 according to the