Climbing the Mountain

When asking air traffic controllers about their jobs, you might occasionally get the answer, Best job in the world. Its a demanding, technical career thats both very rewarding and-while not glamorous-carries a certain mystique with the general public.

mwatson

Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Many air traffic control trainees experience a hostile and unsupportive training culture where veteran controllers and supervisors can actively impede their progress, leading to high washout rates and demoralization.
Systemic issues, including staffing shortages, arbitrary training standards, and inconsistent certification processes, further complicate the path to becoming a certified controller.
Despite the difficult environment, controllers demonstrate strong peer support during personal crises, and there's an evolving movement within the profession towards more constructive and fair training practices.
The ATC profession remains inherently demanding, requiring rigorous and objective competency to ensure public safety, which can lead to unavoidable trainee failures even as the training culture strives for greater fairness.

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(Editor’s note: In 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, PATCO, illegally struck against the FAA. The controllers were fed up with what many viewed as horrible working conditions that primarily stemmed from an intense adversarial relationship with management. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to cite the reason for striking as “bad management,” so the strike unsuccessfully became mostly about money. Nonetheless, people noticed and many improvements were gradually made. Is it better today? Sometimes and in some places, but not universally. Here’s one veteran controller’s perspective and observations using training to illustrate.)

When asking air traffic controllers about their jobs, you might occasionally get the answer, “Best job in the world.” It’s a demanding, technical career that’s both very rewarding and—while not glamorous—carries a certain mystique with the general public.