Is anyone an air traffic controller?

[LoverofGladioli]

My son in his 20s has given up a £70k office job ( which he admittedly hates) to be an air traffic controller. This will obviously be shift work, a big pay cut and presumably a great deal of responsibility. He is married but has no kids and they dont want them. He will burn through his savings propping up his income while he trains.He was also accepted on a pilot training scheme, but has gone for the ATC because he doesn't want to be away from home and his wife so much. Obviously it is his life and he must make his own choices, but as a mum i do worry.
Can anyone come up with any positives?

I think it's pretty well paid. And if he's happy in his work that counts for a lot.

https://www.nats.aero/careers/operations/trainee-air-traffic-controllers/

Doing something he loves and being paid while training isn’t a positive?

I think you need to take a step back.

What negatives are you seeing? Once trained they're pretty well paid aren't they?

One job that AI hopefully does not replace. I had a uni friend who left accountancy to be a ATC. He loved it

It’s amazing he can follow his dreams, nothing worse that doing a job you hate!

My DH has not long retired, he was not an ATC but held a very senior leadership at NATS. Life as an ATC is stressful in short bursts, they work an hour on hour off to reduce the stress impact and the safety back up procedures in place are extensive. Salary will rise quite quickly, topping out ant well over £100k for an Heathrow tower controller, and work life balance is excellent. Our children did not choose to go down this route, but my DH would have been quite happy should they have. I really don’t think you need to worry.

I hear it’s incredibly difficult to get in so well done to your DS!

I’d be more concerned he turned down pilot training to be honest. He’s obviously a flight enthusiast, I would be hoping he doesn’t come to regret that decision in the future. But really it’s his choice.

School mate of mine started as an ATC assistant, then qualified as a controller and eventually moved on into management (at Swanwick), so there's certainly room for career progression and he reckoned he enjoyed it.

I’d be more concerned he turned down pilot training to be honest

I'd share that concern to some extent but flying as a job isn't for everyone, the training is (usually) very very expensive these days, and unless you end up at an outfit with a very gentle rostering system, and/or can go part time it can be very disruptive of family live....

Hells tits that’s a poor wage for the level of responsibility! I’m really surprised. However agree with everyone else, money doesn’t buy happiness and, if they can afford for him to do that, I think it’s brilliant.

I’ve just read the post above saying you can rise to £100k, which seems more appropriate. The job advert posted above indicates £50k as top line hence my previous comment. £36k starting salary.

I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them. Factoring in other allowances such as anti social/ shift payments etc, a senior ATCO could be pushing £160-180k. There are also roles they can move into that offer up to 30-40% bonus, so an ATCO earning nearly £200k is not unusual. ATCO’s are actually very well paid, especially for the hours they work.

Also, to answer a question about AI, London City has no live controllers on site, control is done remotely from. Swanwick, I think. So you never know,

You sound way too involved. Let him live his life doing something he wants to do.

@Cassandra1982

"Also, to answer a question about AI, London City has no live controllers on site, control is done remotely from. Swanick, I think. So you never know:"

..It is, but of course for all sorts of reasons (technical, regulatory/legal) it's a heck of a step from moving local controllers out of the tower to actually getting rid of them altogether.

https://www.nats.aero/news/london-city-is-first-major-airport-controlled-by-remote-digital-tower/#:~:text=London%20City%20Airport%20has%20become,the%20revolutionary%20technology%20during%20lockdown.

What on earth are you talking about, you great doughnut? I clearly said in my op, it's his life and his choice. Do you honestly think it is normal to have zero interest in your adult children's lives? 🙄

Well that's good because he lives near Southampton!

Of course you will have an opinion.

But, what would you have him do? A job he hates, one that takes him away from his wife, which he doesn’t want, or the job he does want which will have zero impact on you!

@LoverofGladioli

My son is currently going through the assessment stage to be an ATCo, but also works for NATS at Whiteley, in a high paying role too (slightly less than 70k). He currently has a lot of interaction with controllers at Swanwick and knows what the job entails.

It is his second attempt, and he discussed with us whether he should try again (it is something he has wanted to do for a long time but he also knows the pitfalls). A friend of mine has an ATCo friend and has repeatedly said don’t do it!

DS’s main concerns were the huge drop in salary whilst training, but also the drop out rate of trainees - I think officially 20% but he says more like 40%. NATS used to guarantee failed trainees a job, so he works with some of them as his colleagues, but that is no longer the case.

He is obviously concerned about the drop in salary, plus maybe not getting through training and being out of a job. However, as he is still single and with savings, we encouraged him to try again. If he doesn’t get through the recruitment this time, I don’t think he will be devastated, esp as he works for NATS, but will at least have tried.

Does your son know where he is training? Whiteley and Gloucester are the options (although my DS says it’s not an option, they just allocate you to one place), the latter generally being related to airports, the former to the Swanwick and Prestwick control centres.

Does your son understand that after basic training, he could be sent anywhere, he wouldn’t necessarily work at Swanwick? Also, the very high salaries relate more to a top controller at Heathrow, than a newly passed controller at say Bristol!

For you I’m old and this is old. I used to own the cassette tape of this.

@notimagain Absolutely you are quite correct and I was not being entirely serious! However, there are other technical advances both within NATS and aboard aircraft, which whilst may never see the extinction of ATCO’s may reshape the role and reduce numbers.

It sounds like he's decided what he wants to do so why do we need to convince you? Speak to him. Find out why. That should be enough.

.

Is his wife willing to relocate?

Ive recently had a career change and was considering applying for the ATC training, but with teens settled in school/exam years, relocating is not a sensible option.

There is a very real possibility of needing to relocate.

He is professionally very familiar already with the area control system they use at swanwick and prestwick so i would have thought it would make sense to send him to one of those. He would love Scotland.
But ds says they just get sent to where they are needed.

Will they take older applicants? I was recently at an open day for the Dutch ATC (LVNL) and they only consider applicants between the ages of 17 - 30. They also stressed how difficult it is to be accepted and advised all the school leavers to go to university or to take up a different training course whilst applying so that they had something to fall back on.
I really, really enjoyed the visit. It was fascinating. We had a tour of the headquarters and got to visit a life-sized mock-up of the Schipol tower too.