![]() There's never really a slow period to speak of. And then if they pass that evaluation, they can head up to the towers.Ĭaparas: We have two controllers working there today. Stearns: Then they'll have an evaluation. Narrator: A new controller will do multiple pass-fail scenarios, but on the simulator, they'll have fewer planes to juggle than the real deal in the tower. Stearns: So, any new controller that would come here, they would initially come here and do bookwork, and then, following up with the bookwork, they would come into the simulator room. Narrator: Once they've been hired, incoming controllers start on the simulator. We're getting closer to six to nine months. Candidates go through a rigorous hiring process, which can take.Ĭaparas: Somewhere just under a year. A job in Atlanta's tower is one of the most coveted ATC positions in the US. But if they make it, the average controller in Georgia makes $145,000 a year. Narrator: To become a fully qualified controller, it can take up to five years of classroom, simulator, and on-the-job training. If an aircraft is coming in to land and they have to go around because of an unstable approach, the weather didn't cooperate, they couldn't get the runway in sight, you have to be ready to make a decision. What can you do to help us be more efficient? Well, one thing that we're not gonna do is make sure that you compromise safety in that equation.Ĭaparas: There's a lot of dynamic decisions. The goal?Ĭaparas: Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. They direct pilots in the air through safe landings and pilots on the ground through takeoffs. Once a plane enters Atlanta's territory, air traffic controllers are in charge of communicating with pilots over radio. These controllers are responsible for any planes inside Atlanta Hartsfield's airspace, five miles out and 4,000 feet above the airport. Pre-pandemic, they directed 909,000 flights through takeoff and landing each year. It takes a rotating staff of 58 traffic controllers to keep the airport running. This is Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and these are its five runways. Narrator: Back in February, before COVID was named a pandemic, Rally took us up inside the tallest control tower in the country to see what it really takes to be an air traffic controller. If something's going wrong in Atlanta or if there are major delays, it disrupts air travel all throughout the country and parts of the world. Not only are lives on the line, but.Ĭaparas: This is the ultimate in domino effects. Narrator: But air traffic controllers can't mess up. Rally Caparas: You can go upstairs and you can look out of that window and you can see nothing at all, and still have movement taking place on your airport. Narrator: They juggle 2,600 landings and departures a day, in all kinds of weather. Stearns: Delta 393, Atlanta ground runway 27R, taxi via Lima, hold short of taxiway Dixie. Narrator: 400 feet above Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, air traffic controllers oversee the skies of the world's busiest airport. Paul Stearns: All right, Delta 2452, continue. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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