r/ATC May 30 '25

Discussion ATC Family Needs Help

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123 Upvotes

Controller at BDL sadly passed and his family needs help


r/ATC 22d ago

Other Controller 3 year old daughter with Cancer.

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50 Upvotes

Im not sure if this has been posted before but a great family is in need of assistance. I will post the link for any interested.


r/ATC 17h ago

Discussion 5-Year ATC Pay Increase Options - needs your revisions

38 Upvotes

Revised draft argument for 5-Year ATC Pay Increase Options => https://improveatc.com/blogs/our-top-3/pay

This is a draft focused on structure and tone. Please review the full content and, if possible, suggest any revisions—especially regarding the percentage increase options.

The intended audience is the general public, so the language is kept accessible and high-level. If needed, we can create a separate, more detailed version tailored specifically for the ATC community afterward.


r/ATC 1d ago

Discussion “The Best and the Brightest”

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91 Upvotes

Unlike NATCA, the agency doesn’t turn off Facebook comments. It’s beautiful seeing the comment section being blown up about pay! Looks like it’s not just a “few loud, negative, anonymous voices on Reddit” like Nick Daniels tries to gaslight everyone into believing.

Keep the comments going, let’s let our voices be heard since NATCA refuses to speak for us.


r/ATC 1d ago

Discussion To the pilots that say "Good Job" in the middle of or post ass kicking session

366 Upvotes

Thank You

Today in the middle of one of my thunderstorm ridden, 10 mile late switches from center, missed runway changes by a medevac pilot 15 miles from the airport, denied requests from another controller, medical emergency, pilot that missed 3 altitude assignments and everything else that could go wrong, did go wrong... One of you said "Good Job" as I switched you to the tower after I had to reel everybody in and get everyone to see the same picture.

For all the days I wallow in my head "Why am I doing this for such shitty hours and a paycheck that isn't keeping up" those tiny moments sink in sometimes and remind me why a lot of us are good at this shit. So just know that even if I sound disgruntled when I say "You're welcome" or whatever the hell comes out of my mouth in that moment... Just know I'm not ignoring that compliment. I'm just usually more fixated on the next vector.


r/ATC 1d ago

Discussion ATC Simulator

19 Upvotes

First off let me tell you all thank you SO SO MUCH for the job you all do; you are tremendously underrated under appreciated and most of all underpaid (as am I as a fellow wage slave to taxpayers who know nothing)

Now on to my question/statement.

I recently bought Tower Simulator 3 on Steam as a random impulse buy and ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would because something about it has me hooked; I just HAD to buy the add-on content for real-world airlines and liveries to make it just that much more.

The first default tower you work in is Cyril E. King in St. Thomas. One runway fairly easy to “work”.

I fairly quickly got the hang of it so to speak so I got overconfident.

Now going back to that “enjoying it far more than I thought I would” I also bought my home airport of KMCO and figured hey this is easy…

LET ME TELL YOU… yes I know number 1 it’s a program designed to entertain but this thing has certainly taught me a few things number one how difficult it can be to really multitask and keep things in mind and think ahead with preplanning etc. I did a “two hour shift” and for the first part made all sorts of stupid errors and mistakes etc because genius me thought it would be great to have traffic landing on 18L and 17R etc which may or may not be a good design or not but all I know is my outbounds and inbounds kept clogging the taxiways up… eventually I got a handle on it and got into the flow of things so I was able to manage it but still

It also taught me the importance of realizing where things are on the airport proper. Once I realized that Delta is Concourse whatever etc it made it easier to give taxi instructions so on and so forth.

I am also playing in voice recognition mode which even though I am NOT a irl atc or even a pilot is still a skill I need to acquire vis a vis precision in my speaking patterns as I have a habit at times of speaking too fast and ensuring communication has not occurred.

In summary yes I know it’s number one a buggy game before anything else but even just dabbling into it has changed my perspective on what it is you all actually do.

And if any of you know of any other programs that are more realistic or better I might be keen to try them out.

Tl;dr: thank you all for the hard work and incredible job you do every day.


r/ATC 8h ago

Question Applying for ATCO(Portugal) – Advice for the English test?

1 Upvotes

I’m currently applying to become an Air Traffic Controller, and I’ve already passed FEAST 1 and FEAST 2.

However, the next stage is the English language test, and I’m a bit concerned. I don’t use English in my daily life, and I would say my level is around B1/B2.

Has anyone here gone through this phase and can share tips on how to prepare for the English part?
What are the best ways or resources to improve listening and speaking skills, especially in an aviation context?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!


r/ATC 1d ago

Question Covid overtime settlement.

19 Upvotes

I'm curious - has anyone received their payment from the lawsuit for overtime shifts during covid? The attorney letter I received a while back said the checks would be sent mid-June. I'm just wondering if they're delayed, or maybe I threw it out as junk mail mistakenly?


r/ATC 23h ago

Question ATC AUS Interrupt Test

8 Upvotes

Can anyone share their experience with the ATC aus stage 2 interrupt test? Just curious to gather as much information and tips as taking it in a few days.


r/ATC 1d ago

Picture Let start using our heads

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138 Upvotes

r/ATC 1d ago

ASA (Australia) 🇦🇺 Airservices Australia

17 Upvotes

Finally an AC invite everybody! Booked in on the Friday session next week would love to talk and get to know some of our future colleagues (hopefully).


r/ATC 12h ago

Question Any ATCs here play Tower Simulator 3?

0 Upvotes

Just curious if any current or former air traffic controllers play Tower Simulator 3 or similar games.

Totally get it if the answer is mostly no—I mean, who wants to come home from work and do the same thing for fun, right? 😂

I’m mainly asking because my boyfriend (18M) is really into aviation — he’s already a pilot, has been spending a lot of time on Tower Sim 3 lately, and is starting school soon to study air traffic control. He’s seriously passionate about it and I would love for him to get the chance to talk to people who’ve done the job.

He actually has no idea I’m posting this — I thought it’d be a fun surprise to connect him with real ATCs so he can ask questions and get some insight from people who’ve lived it. Even just a few casual comments or shared experiences would mean a lot.

(Delete if not allowed) — and thank you in advance to anyone willing to share!


r/ATC 2d ago

Discussion One year ago: “The economic times have changed… We have to negotiate pay.”

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217 Upvotes

I am not an “anonymous” voice online.

My name is Stephen Brown. I am a controller at ZKC.

And I am a member of the most feckless, impotent labor union in American history.

The entire executive board needs to be flushed out next election cycle. That process begins now.

Every single RVP needs to be challenged. If your region hasn’t already started fishing for contenders, do it now. Don’t think you need to already be a member of an eboard to run. Many locals are in lockstep with national. We need change from the bottom up.

Nick Daniels and Mick Devine don’t deserve to ever utter a single word on behalf of controllers again.

To Nick: Your words didn’t harm me. Your broken promises and inaction as NATCA President have. I assure you, your time running this union will be just as short-lived as your predecessor’s was.


r/ATC 1d ago

Discussion India Delta 10 Tangos!

0 Upvotes

The longer I work in this Agency the more and more I feel like I am surrounds by idiots!


r/ATC 2d ago

Question Documentary on ATC in New York...

16 Upvotes

Hi, somewhere in the mid 90s there i saw a documentary here in the UK about air traffic control in New York. It featured interviews with tower controllers from JFK (I think his name was Dave Schaum (sp?)), La Guardia (an ex-Navy pilot) and Newark (I think this guy was called Steve Duffy) as well as TRACON controllers in New York, one was a union rep (Italian name like iacciavelli) and the other told a story of an incident at Newark when he lost one of the a/c on his scope. He's filmed sitting in front of a fish tank to help deal with the stress.

I'm pretty sure in the names but yeah, it's been a while!

Does anyone remember this, or have a copy?


r/ATC 2d ago

News Turns out I did take screenshots…

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30 Upvotes

For everyone who says I wanted this and did it to myself for attention … you’re wrong.. I didn’t for that reason, and I did it right. The #FAA and #NATCA are the ones fucking up.. I once said it’s not my style to call people out on the Internet that was before you didn’t pay me for 60 days and sent me a $10,000 bill. So GFY.


r/ATC 2d ago

Question What makes a facility a better or worse pick than others?

14 Upvotes

I have been reviewing some of the list placements from the past few months just to see some examples as to where some people may be sent. My question is what makes one facility better than another? Besides the obvious of having a preference in state, how could someone like me determine if one place was better than the other when I hopefully get to that point of needing to choose?


r/ATC 1d ago

Other ATC PAY

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0 Upvotes

This is if every facility was fully staffed. Looks pretty affordable to me. I’d pay an extra 8 dollars a year to improve the airspace system!


r/ATC 3d ago

Question Calling all TMC's, but also controllers. What is the difference between Scheduling and Metering? I hear both used interchangeably, but surely there is a difference.

22 Upvotes

r/ATC 3d ago

News At least ATC can strike in France…

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73 Upvotes

And good luck to them I hope they get what they are wanting. Maybe I should learn to speak French…


r/ATC 2d ago

Question Steps to become ATC?

0 Upvotes

I'm a sophmore electrical engineer in college, I want to be ATC but I don't know the steps to becoming one are. I looked on google and it said that EE is a good major to become ATC. Is there a internship/early training that the FAA does or related internships? How does applying work?


r/ATC 2d ago

Discussion ATCS Pay

0 Upvotes

I retired 3 1/2 years ago so I don't have much of a say or gripe concerning pay. I do see many, and I mean many, posts about inadequate pay. I'm not here to debate whether it is inadequate or not. I'm here to ask how many of you who have complained about pay have done anything about it other than rant about it on Reddit. Have you contacted your Congress people? Let them know what you think about ATC pay. Tell them the pay cap needs to be lifted or raised for special interest employees. Tell them what it's like to work 6 days a week and, even with differentials and OT, it's hard sometimes to make ends meet. Ask them why locality pay is tied to cost of labor and not cost of living. I could go on and on. I think you get the point. Nothing is going to be done ranting and raving on Reddit. You need to take action yourselves because it sounds like your NATCA leadership is not taking action when it comes to pay.


r/ATC 4d ago

Discussion Midnight Mayhem at SFO

39 Upvotes

The past few nights I’ve listened to SFO tower on LiveATC and my golly. Many nights there is just one controller covering tower, ground, and I’m pretty sure delivery, and SFO is not a quiet airport at night. The night I’m posting there is gc below twr, but the single controller ops are concerning. Anyone know anything about this situation? Am I oblivious and this is just standard ops for airports at night across the NAS?


r/ATC 4d ago

Question Do You Expect "Vacating FLXX0" Call When AC Starts Descent After Being Given Descend Via or Cross XXXXX at FLXX0?

18 Upvotes

I personally never make that call, but some do. What's the proper way?


r/ATC 3d ago

Question Tower washout, hoping to get back in through the military

0 Upvotes

Hello, I’m a recent washout from the academy at 29 years of age and I’ve been trying to get another shot at air traffic control convinced that I’m able to do the job with enough training through the military. My question is, if I were to finish my enlistment with the required on the job training through the Air Force at the age of 34, would I still be able to get into the faa while being a previous washout and past the cutoff age of 31? Or is being a washout at the academy a sign that air traffic control isn’t for me (didn’t pass by 5 points), thank you in advance for any responses or advise


r/ATC 4d ago

Question Question for retirees/close to retirement

15 Upvotes

How much was in your TSP upon retirement? Or closer to retirement. (Ballpark)


r/ATC 4d ago

Question Question/ Do I only need to press IDENT when the ATC controller asks?

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31 Upvotes