Factor
Woodstock, VA
Male, 65
My life in ATC began with 4 years Air Force then another 30 years with the Federal Aviation Admin. working tower & radar at some big international airports. I fought in the 1981 war with PATCO, survived the strike and kept a job that was just too exhilarating to walk away from. While there was nothing better than working airplanes, I did move on through several air traffic supervisory and management positions. It was a long, crazy career but I wouldn't trade a moment of it for love or lucre!
Another great question! With the exception of military aircraft on special missions, no aircraft are permitted to exceed 250 knots while operating below 10,000 feet. The Federal Aviation Administration also prohibits any supersonic flight over land, regardless of altitude, except in special military flight corridors. These rules make it a lot easier for controllers to handle aircraft of various performance capabilities. When possible, smaller aircraft that operate at much lower speeds than jet and turboprop powered flights are routed differently; along with other flights of more compatible performance characteristics.
Air traffic controllers may also use speed control; instructing pilots to adjust their aircraft’s speed as a way of achieving and/or maintaining required spacing from other aircraft. If speed control doesn’t quite do the job, we can also assign delaying vectors to aircraft in danger of getting too close to the traffic they are following. Speed control and vectoring are among the most essential tools of a controller's trade.
Thanks for asking!
Factor
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That’s a difficult one to answer! Overall, the United States, by far and away, contains the most airports. There are more than 20,000 of them, which makes managing our National Airspace System such a challenge for the Federal Aviation Administration. Pennsylvania alone has over 800 airports compared to the 65 or so found in China. The only other countries that begin to approach U S. numbers are Brazil, with about 2,930 airports and Canada with 1,865.
The busiest air traffic control systems on U.S. soil are associated with major metropolitan area airports. You’ll find your fill of airplanes around Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Charlotte and Phoenix. Traffic volume in these areas is largely due to airline hub operations at key airports. Air traffic controllers who work there have to love their work. There’s so much of it to love!
Cheers,
Factor
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Thanks for writing! Before answering, I should say that pilots and controllers rarely disagree. Although we’re working at different ends of each radio transmission, we’re all on the same team when it comes to safe, efficient flight. When those occasional conflicts arise, flight safety and/or efficiency is most likely at the bottom of it.
Pilots are the final decision makers when it comes to doing what’s best for plane and passenger. The best example I can think of is the “Miracle on the Hudson” when US Airways flight 1549 landed in the river. Once made aware of the flight’s engine failures, air traffic control first tried to get the flight back to La Guardia Airport, then to Teterboro Airport. The pilot refused both options and landed in the Hudson River. As it turned out; he did the best thing.
Another, more general example would be when there are thunderstorms in the area. The radar controller may assign a heading to a flight that the pilot will refuse to comply with. Why? That heading would turn the aircraft into some potentially severe weather. Nobody argues. The controller just has to quickly come up with a “Plan B.” This is a fairly common occurrence during thunderstorm season. Although ATC usually has plenty of radar weather information available; it’s not the same as actually seeing and experiencing it from a cockpit! Well informed as they are; controllers can’t feel the plane shaking.
Basically, a controller’s instructions are not optional. Compliance is expected because it’s a mainstay of aviation safety. However, there are those rare exceptions. When pilots deviate from or fail to comply with instructions; they may be asked to contact the controlling ATC facility after landing, to explain the matter.
I hope this helps!
Factor
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Wow! That’s the hardest ‘easy’ question I’ve had yet! Here’s the easy part of my answer. By international agreement, English is the global language of aviation and, with few exceptions, must be used between pilots and controllers, regardless of nationality. Air traffic facilities and pilots around the world must have enough basic English skills to communicate with one another. The reason? There needs to be a language standard so that, no matter where you flew or what your nationality, you and the local ATC folks would be able to communicate. It is also important to understand how critical it is for all pilots on the same control frequency to be able to understand what other pilots are saying. It helps them keep that important “big picture” of what’s going on around them. If, for example, one pilot warns of the severe turbulence he just experienced on final approach; other flights following that aircraft will be interested in knowing so they can be ready for it. But what if that warning was broadcast in Chinese?
The hard part of my answer relates to the quality and clarity of the English used by other nationalities. I worked at a couple of big international airports with lots of foreign air carriers flying in and out. The pilots always spoke English to the best of their ability but that wasn’t always good enough for us to understand. They didn’t always understand us either. Talk about a recipe for disaster! Or, at least, a severe headache!
There are no translators in our ATC facilities. The only time I ever saw a translator position in a control tower was when I was an Air Force controller stationed overseas. It was a joint-use military base where hundreds of student pilots from the host country’s Air Force learned to fly high performance fighter jets. They were controlled by ATC personnel also from their host country, in their own language. We controlled all U. S. and other English speaking flights. The translator was supposed to keep us informed of what the other guys were up to and vice versa. It was a fiasco. I attribute many of my gray hairs to those days. If interested, check my Blog (the link is in my profile above) for an entry from March of 2010 titled “Desolation Tower.” You’ll see what I mean.
Thanks for tuning in!
Factor
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Interesting question! Yes, it happened one night several years ago when I was on duty in an Air Force control tower. A fellow airman and I were working the midnight shift. It was probably around 3:00 AM and all the planes had long since landed. There was nothing left to do but stare out of the tower windows and talk about the latest squadron gossip. It turned out there would be something to do!
At first, I thought I was “seeing things.” It was a long string of glowing lights, like the passenger windows on an airliner, moving silently across the airfield at nearly treetop level. Only about a mile away, it was moving way too slowly to be an airliner. We figured it was some kind of aircraft though, so we tried calling on all our tower radio frequencies; including the emergency frequencies that pilots switch to when they’re having difficulties. No reply. Then we called the Base radar control facility and asked the controller if they were working any planes near the airport. They were not. Nor did they see any radar targets anywhere in the area. That’s when we figured this was an extraordinary event. I mean, we were standing in the tower watching this thing!
We watched the object move across the field and eventually vanish in the distance. Later on, we called a couple of the nearest FAA air traffic control facilities and asked them if they had received any reports of unusual activity in the skies. The supervisor at one facility told us there had been several reports made by airline pilots who claimed they saw what looked like a low flying, slow moving aircraft heading in the same direction that our thing was moving. Their reports came in about an hour or so after our siting at the base.
The Air Force actually had a program in place at the time called “Project Blue Book” wherein they collected and supposedly analyzed UFO reports. We had the reporting forms in the tower but decided not to fill one out that night. In spite of what we were told, everyone was worried that filling out the report would make them look like ‘whackos’ who’d never be promoted again! Me and my mid-shift buddy agreed to never mention the incident to anyone. To this day I have no idea what we saw that night but somebody out there probably does.
Cheers,
Factor
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This is another great question for anyone considering an ATC profession! Actually; if you are 31, you are already too old to become an FAA controller. Here’s an excerpt from their policy; “...a maximum age of 30 years is established for entry into civilian air traffic control positions in the Federal Aviation Administration...” The only exception I know of would apply if you have prior military experience as a controller. The are private companies who provide ATC services but I have no knowledge of their age requirements.
At the other end of an ATC career, the FAA also has a maximum retention age for those “actively engaged in the separation and control of air traffic.” It states that, with a few exceptions, controllers are required to hang up their headsets at age 56.
Yes, you can work as an ATC after age 31 but learning the job and developing the necessary skills is best done at an earlier age. Most controllers I worked with were at peak performance in their thirties. I started my ATC career at age 19. Regarding that mandatory retirement age, I’ll say that ATC is a young person’s game. Depending on where controllers work and how much traffic volume and complexity they have to deal with – they can lose their edge at a fairly early age. Sometimes it’s best to quit while you’re ahead.
Cheers,
Factor
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Good question. Yes, I believe such technology is possible and actually inevitable for military applications. It could also be used for civilian air travel but I’m not so sure it would be a cost effective way to fly. The first generation of supersonic commercial aircraft, such as the British Airways Concorde, were never very profitable. They were relatively small inside, uncomfortable and capable of carrying far fewer passengers than a Boeing 747. Yet ticket prices were many times higher than that of a conventional international flight.
If I had to fly from NY to LA; I think I’d just leave a bit earlier on a standard jet liner. The money I saved could get me some fine dining and/or shopping in Manhattan!
Cheers,
Factor
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