Atc
 

I havent been able to find the exact details, but i understand the new controller contract with uncle sam is pretty nice. Im a senior FO at RAH thats looking to bail out depending on how this seniority list integration goes and how much our new contract lacks.

anyways i just wondering who out there has or known someone that has made the jump from the regional world to ATC. and how does one start the application process for ATC, any good informative air traffic controller forums and any other general input would be appreciated. Contructive responses only please.

SK

SK,

I'm assuming you are a younger guy, but there is an age limit restriction that you are probably aware of. Sorry, but I don't know exactly what the limit is. A friend from my new hire class jumped through all the hoops and it looked like he had a job in the Atlanta area working in a tower. (not at Hartsfield..but a small airport).

The funny thing is, they pulled the job offer due to the psych eval. They said he answered the questions too perfectly and that nobody was that perfect. It was the same MMPI test that he took to be an FFDO and to get hired at United.

First to qualify you must be able to prove 3 years of work history. then you must be under 30 (be able to graduate from the academy by 31 i think)

After that the requirements vary. Currently there are no openings for "off the street" hiring as there was throughout 2009. The only openings are for people who graduated from a certified school. The next "off the street" hiring is supposedly going to open in jan and after that july for only 2 in 2010.

I am a current regional FO trying to get into ATC. Keep looking on the faa website or the ASAP site through usajobs.com

anothe forum is stuckmic.com, lots of info there.

cant beat the job security with a govt job plus the benefits that go with it, they still have a pension etc.

i am by no means a master as i just got the ball rolling last month

i've known 6 pilots who have gone from becoming a pro pilot to atc. All of them were commercial pilots up to cfi's. All of them said switching to atc was a much better decision than continuing with the pilot route. look into different colleges around the country for the atc training. like the previous poster said the age cut off is 31. have fun...it sounds like a very rewarding career, with great benefits and job security.

The public opening occur every 6 months now and are posted on USAjobs.gov The last opening was in July (I applied to this one) so the next one should be some time around the new year give or take a year. For more answers to your questions go to some local towers and get on stuckmic.com another forum site with mostly ATC guys. They have a ton of information there.

The off the street part of your comment is not true they have been hiring OTS guys all year and I am in the process now I also applied in the July posting and I am taking the AT-SAT later this week. And it is to my understanding that the pension is no longer there. I believe Clinton took that away form them and the FAA safety inspectors back in the 90's I may be wrong on that one if anyone else is sure about that fell free to correct me.

Pension is still there, I don't think it has changed since way pre-Clinton. Now it's less guaranteed income, more self-investment. The contract basically gets controllers back to where they were in 2006. You do have to be hired by your 31st birthday. The FAA claims they are hiring quickly, but plan on at least a year from beginning of process to "hired". Some of the College Training Initiative (CTI) schools also offer Associate degrees, so with some previous education you can get their program done in 2 semesters.

The bids open right now are for CTI graduates and Veterans (w/atc experience), but a new bid should open for everyone. They are still hiring from previous bids, but as Flight84 now knows, this process can take a while.

Just wondering how i can make the jump to ATC. I am 25 years old, I am not a pilot, plan on getting my PPL at somepoint, have a real passion for aviation. I have my Bachlor Degree in Business Admin.

From my understanding there is some college that is required to become ATC. Does someone that already has a Bachlors degree not have to take as much or what is the route i would have to take.

Thanks for the info.

You can either wait for hiring to open up to the public again or go to a CTI school... currently completing a CTI program and passing the AT-SAT gives you a pretty high chance of getting hired. Here is the website for approved CTI programs:
Approved Air Traffic - Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) Schools

Whatever you do don't waste your time going somewhere for a full bachelors degree in ATC... thats a joke... in any situation....

BTW... heres the recently implemented pay bands in case people were curious.
Any questions about how to read it... just ask. These are base pays not including locality which currently starts at just under 14% and goes up to around 25% depending on where you end up being based.

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0A...aGt6aGdk&hl=en