re: FAA is hiring Air Traffic Controllers

You probably fit both.

I was a controller in the air force. Started ATC, transferred to combat control, then ended up as a weapons director.

Couldn't pay me enough to do ATC. Could do a million things right, make one mistake and it's your arse. I mean, I left ATC to run around with the Army and snake eaters so I could call in air strikes.

Back around 1980, the new guys had to start out at the biggest airports like O Hare, LAX, JFK, as you gained seniority you can move into jobs in areas with less traffic which equated to less stress. It seemed counter intuitive, don't know if it is still like that. There was also a ton of training time, and it was all in Oklahoma City.

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Couldn't pay me enough to do ATC. Could do a million things right, make one mistake and it's your arse. I mean, I left ATC to run around with the Army and snake eaters so I could call in air strikes.

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JTAC?

Actually, if you want a career with the FAA, being black and female gives you a big leg up.

It's like this now

Black female
White female


Black male







White male

The FAA is just another corrupt federal agency that sucks at it's job. It should be done away with. Privately contracted air traffic controllers could do the job better and cheaper.

I took it at age 28 and scored mid 90s. They offered me the next step which was 8 weeks of training in Oklahoma City. If I passed that step I would have been assigned to an airport of their choice. Well, I was allowed to give three choices on areas but there were no guarantees. I declined the position.

a lot of the test was based on determining objects relationship to each other on an x,y,z grid IIRC. It was something that made sense to me so I had no problem with it.

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I took the exam in the late 80's, its not easy. You have to score above 90 to be in serious contention, or it was that way then.

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I'm sure the standards are significantly lower now. Too much potential for lowered self esteem if you fail the test !!!!!

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The FAA is just another corrupt federal agency that sucks at it's job.

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The FAA runs the safest system in the entire world, which accounts for 70% of the world's air traffic. It runs safer, tighter, and better than anyone. So, I wouldn't say it sucks. Who do you think could run it better?

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Privately contracted air traffic controllers could do the job better and cheaper.

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This will probably happen in the next few years, for better or worse, because of the word in bold text.