Also called: Access Control Specialist, Air Route Controller, Air Route Traffic Controller, Air Traffic Control Operator, Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS)
Control air traffic on and within vicinity of airport, and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centers, according to established procedures and policies. Authorize, regulate, and control commercial airline flights according to government or company regulations to expedite and ensure flight safety.
Inform pilots about nearby planes or potentially hazardous conditions, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, or visibility problems.
Issue landing and take-off authorizations or instructions.
Transfer control of departing flights to traffic control centers and accept control of arriving flights.
Provide flight path changes or directions to emergency landing fields for pilots traveling in bad weather or in emergency situations.
Alert airport emergency services in cases of emergency or when aircraft are experiencing difficulties.
Monitor or direct the movement of aircraft within an assigned air space or on the ground at airports to minimize delays and maximize safety.
Direct pilots to runways when space is available or direct them to maintain a traffic pattern until there is space for them to land.
Monitor aircraft within a specific airspace, using radar, computer equipment, or visual references.
Direct ground traffic, including taxiing aircraft, maintenance or baggage vehicles, or airport workers.
Contact pilots by radio to provide meteorological, navigational, or other information.
Maintain radio or telephone contact with adjacent control towers, terminal control units, or other area control centers to coordinate aircraft movement.
Determine the timing or procedures for flight vector changes.
Initiate or coordinate searches for missing aircraft.
Provide on-the-job training to new air traffic controllers.
Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.
Relay air traffic information, such as courses, altitudes, or expected arrival times, to control centers.
Inspect, adjust, or control radio equipment or airport lights.
Compile information about flights from flight plans, pilot reports, radar, or observations.
Organize flight plans or traffic management plans to prepare for planes about to enter assigned airspace.
Review records or reports for clarity and completeness and maintain records or reports, as required under federal law.
Complete daily activity reports and keep records of messages from aircraft.
Conduct pre-flight briefings on weather conditions, suggested routes, altitudes, indications of turbulence, or other flight safety information.
Analyze factors such as weather reports, fuel requirements, or maps to determine air routes.
Work Context
Work Context information for this career will be available soon.
Work Activities
Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
English Language
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Public Safety and Security
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Education and Training
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Geography
Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Telecommunications
Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Mathematics
Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Operation Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Oral Comprehension
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Selective Attention
The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Deductive Reasoning
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning
The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speed of Closure
The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Flexibility of Closure
The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Perceptual Speed
The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Near Vision
The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Far Vision
The ability to see details at a distance.
Time Sharing
The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Speech Clarity
The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Information Ordering
The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speech Recognition
The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Comprehension
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Category Flexibility
The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Auditory Attention
The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Visualization
The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Written Expression
The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Originality
The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Fluency of Ideas
The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Mathematical Reasoning
The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Visual Color Discrimination
The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Number Facility
The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Memorization
The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
