How to become an Air Traffic Controller in the FAA

FAA air traffic control hiring

It seems good paying, stable jobs that still promise a pension are almost non existent.  Working for the FAA as an air traffic controller is still one of the few careers that offers good benefits, great pay, and a mandatory retirement at 56 years old, with a pension.

As a young person interested in the military, you may be looking ahead at the rest of your life. Maybe you don't want to spend 20 years in the military; maybe you'll do one term, have some adventure and move on.

Although signing up for Air Force special warfare does not guarantee a Combat Control spot, it still seems like you get a little input of career choice you want after the selection process is finished.  If you do at least one term as an Combat Controller, then air traffic control may be a good career choice for you to settle down after your enlistment.

 I want to explain how you get hired by the FAA for anyone interested after the military, or for anyone wanting a really good career, but they may not have a college degree or career choice in mind.  This is a great career that still offers a good pension ( roughly half of what you make at the time of retirement, not including company matched thrift saving plan contributions), great healthcare benefits, and great working conditions because of the strong union presence known as NATCA ( national air traffic controllers association)

Being an air traffic controller is a skill that declines with age, so the mandatory retirement at 56 is in place for all individuals who work live air traffic.  

You must have a tentative offer from the FAA by the time of your 31st birthday, or unfortunately you've aged out.  There are a few exceptions to the 31 age cutoff, like Department of Defense controllers, but I'm not discussing that in this article.

                                                                        

You can work beyond 56 in the FAA as an air traffic manager, or various support positions.  Supervisors still need currency time for their qualifications, so you need to be in a manager position, or support specialist etc., by the time you are 56, if you want to continue working beyond.

There are companies that hire air traffic controllers ( contract companies) but the pay isn't nearly as good as the FAA, and there is no retirement benefits, other than your own 401k contributions.   There are exceptions overseas, but those are few and far between.  These types of positions normally have 30 day certification times compared to a year or more in the FAA.  This is because of the bare bones staffing and being run by private companies.  Because of these reasons, contract companies often seek retired FAA controllers with a lot of experience.

The hiring process for the  FAA has changed since I was hired back in 2011, but I've kept up to date on how the hiring process works now. 

Around 2007, there were mass retirements from the hiring boom of the Reagan era.  When air traffic controllers went on strike, Reagan fired a large amount of ATC personnel when they didn't report to work.  The people hired in the 80s all were hired at the same time, which meant they all retired at the same time. At around 2007 a staffing crisis began.

This massive need for controllers may seem like common sense, but it seemed to take the FAA by surprise.  In almost a panic, there was a hiring boom.  In a desperate attempt to fill facilities, people with no prior experience were sent to complex, busy facilities like LAX, DEN, and ATL further complicating hiring and staffing due to a large number of washouts.

By the time I was hired in 2011, the hiring process became slow because the FAA academy and facilities were backed up with trainees while the FAA tried to relocate washouts and get people certified. They also became a little smarter by placing new hires at lower level facilities, instead of the busiest in the country. By 2012 I was training at OMA tower.

The good news for people trying to become air traffic controllers now and in the future is the hiring demands will continue, although not quite the amount of the last hiring rush.  People like me will be gone in the next 15 to 20 years, and now they are still hiring in large numbers as normal retirements continue. This doesn't even include the loss of employees to the required Covid vaccination demands. As many as 6000 people could be gone around 2022.

So the vacancies are there, but how do you get into this career in the next 5 to 10 years?

I'll explain how that works below:

There are currently two paths to becoming an air traffic controller for the FAA.  

1. Off the street ( OTS) 

Even if you're a previous military air traffic controller, or just prior military in general, you can still apply to the OTS bid. You get veteran's preference points on your application regardless of job specialty.  There is not a requirement of a college degree; 3 years of work experience (from different jobs or one place of employment) and you must not be older than 31 years old.

The age requirement is in place because a mandatory retirement age of 56 is in place for air traffic controllers.  The FAA wants to get 25 years of service from you before a mandatory retirement at 56.

Controllers are eligible for retirement after 20 years, but it is mandatory after 25.  

The FAA posts OTS bids on usajobs,gov  They are labeled OTS bid for the 2152 air traffic specialist position.  Pay no attention to the other air traffic bids for manager or supervisor positions because you won't land any of those jobs without experience in the FAA first.  Those bids are for current controllers,

I'm not sure about the frequency of these bids, but last I checked they happened about two times a year.  You can regularly check the site by searching the 2152 position.

Keep in mind that you could have 3 years work experience in the fast food industry and still be eligible to apply for this position.  A college degree, or private pilot licence will certainly help, but it is not required.

I'm gonna explain a little about what happens during the hiring process:

When you apply for the OTS bid, you are applying for a nation wide bid, which means you must be prepared to move anywhere for the job.  It's not like it was in the big, panicked, hiring boom prior to 2010 where you pretty much had your choice of locations.  If you were from Los Angeles and you wanted LAX, then you were training at one of the busiest facilities in the country.  

Now the FAA will places you in a slower tower known as a air traffic control tower, or ATCT ( tall building with windows you see at the airport) or  a slower approach control, known as a terminal radar approach control, or TRACON ( radar facility in a dark room funneling traffic into and out of the airport) or a slower facility that certifies you on both tower and radar ( combined facility, or up down) like Chattanooga, TN.

The FAA rates facilities with a number based on traffic volume and complexity from 4 through 12, and the pay goes up each level of the facility. Atlanta Hartsfield International tower is a level 12, while places like Pensacola tower and Chatanooga combined ATCT and TRACON are level 6.  Chattanooga tower is much slower than Pensacola, but they have a TRACON attached, which brings them to the same level and complexity.

While Pensacola tower, where I currently work is rated a level 6,  the radar facility next door is not combined with this facility (  many lower lever facilities have have the ATCT and TRACON combined, which means you'll need to certify at both to become a certified professional controller (CPC).

The radar facility next door is a level 9 because they deal with Pensacola ATCT traffic, and all the other naval bases in the area.Not only do they deal with controlling all the aircraft in and out of Pensacola ATCT, but they do the same for the Naval bases.  The TRACON obviously works more traffic and the complexity making it a higher than the ATCT.

Both the ATCT and TRACON facilities are considered terminal facilities and it means what the name implies.  It's the environment where flights begin and ultimately end their journey.

On the OTS bid, you can expect to be placed into level 4 through 8 terminal facilities, possibly 9.The level 10 through 12 facilities are filled with people with experience from the lower level facilities.

OTS hires are still eligible for level 10-12 enroute facilities.  These are complex radar facilities are also known as centers that deal with aircraft at high altitudes and are generally located near major cities like; Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York etc.  

These facilities are much larger than terminal facilities with several sections called areas, that handle large portions of the country.  These level 10 through 12 facilities do take new hires, so to break it down:

When you are hired by the FAA you could be placed in the enroute ( center option)  in a level 10 through 12 facility, or the terminal option in a level 4 through 8 facility, which could be a TRACON, tower, or combined facility.

The time it takes to fully certify is  usually much longer in an enroute facility, any where from a year and a half to three years.  A mid to lower level TRACON could take up to two years, and a lower level tower as little as six months.  When you are hired you don't have a choice between the enroute or terminal option, but you do have somewhat of a say in your facility of choice.  The higher your grade at the initial training at the FAA academy in Oklahoma City, the more options you have to pick from.  The highest grade gets the first pick, and so on.

2.  Prior experience hire from the military

This bid is also on usajobs.gov, and it has specific requirements, but the hiring process is basically the same as OTS.  Also, the odds are greater that you'll get the terminal option because prior experience will be in these specialties from the military, as there are no enroute facilities in the military.  The enroute facilities are set up with the ability to train new people from the ground up, with lots of staffing, classrooms etc.

When you learn air traffic control in the military, whether it's in combat control training, or as an air traffic controller, you get a card that looks like the one you get when you actually certify at a facility after you finish the scholl. At a facility you are issued a CTO ( control tower operator) certificate, or a pink card in the TRACON, or both if it's an up/down combined facility. 

To be hired under the prior experience bid, you need either a CTO or pink card issued from an actual facility and at least 52 weeks experience.  This is something to note for combat controllers because the one issued at the school house will not qualify.  Combat Controllers do actually have opportunities to get a CTO from facilities, and this is something to think about and strive for while you're in.  There is also opportunities for combat controllers to work in towers to get experience, but it's not guaranteed.

If you fail to meet the qualifications, you can still apply under the OTS bid, but the prior experience bid gives way better odds of being hired.  In fact, I haven't heard of any prior experience controllers not getting hired by the FAA lately.

I hope this article helps you understand how the hiring works for the FAA.  The process isn't too complicated but it is hard to get good information about this career.

Comment below with any questions

Kevin