How can I go about being an air traffic controller?
I was in the military but I didn't work as an ATC.
I'm 23 and in good health.
do i need to go to a special school or is it all OJT?
Answers:
In the US you can either get a degree from a CTI school or try for off the street hiring which is essentially OJT.You can also learn in the military, but I"m sure that idea has already crossed your mind having been in the service.
Off the street hiring means you pass an interview, pass the AT-SAT entrance test and get picked from a pool of those who do pass both. Not everyone from off the street who passes everything gets asked. Also, those who get hired off the street get hired to hard to staff locations and have to learn at the FAA academy in a roughly 7 week course. A full 50% of off the street hires wash out of the academy and a further 50% of those who pass wash out of their facility. It is a lot to learn in 7 weeks and instead of hiring 4 trainees for every opening, the FAA started the CTI program.
There are 13 CTI colleges and universities. Basically the CTI program is nothing more than the FAA has said these 13 have an air traffic control degree that they deem meets a sufficient standard of training. You go to school and major in ATC just like you'd go to school and major in Biology. Once you get out the FAA clears your paperwork and you go to the academy for the same period as everyone else. The main difference is at the academy, having gone through CTI, you already have learned 99% of what they'll teach you so it is more of a refresher course and not an ab inito full on cram session. The material at a CTI program mocks the academy and some even use the same maps and sectors. The major benefit other than a guarenteed spot at Oklahoma City is that the material is learned over the course of a year or two, not 7 weeks.
If you work well under pressure it is a good occupation. It isn't an all out stress fest that some people make it out to be. LIke everything else in aviation, the old addage 59 minutes of the routine and one minute of terror every hour fairly well holds true.
You must enroll in an FAA approved education program. Here is a few links with more information:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos108.htm#train...
http://www.atca.org/home.asp
my sister has been on a course with NATS in bournemouth/swanick airport in southampton for approx 9 months and she found the advert in a newspaper, they take on new people every couple of months as most people fail the the course.im sure you could find a phone number under NATS
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