Any ATCO'S out there?

[reeperR32]

I would like to pick your brain please?

[Dirk Jan]

Wasn't sure about what an ATCO is, so I Googled it.

Apperently it's a brand of lawnmowers.

[reeperR32]

Wasn't sure about what an ATCO is, so I Googled it.

Apperently it's a brand of lawnmowers.

lol

air traffic controller

[Ruishy1]

one of my old mates was a controller, stress got to him in the end and he quit !
what do you wanna know im in the industry

[Goddaz]

My dad is and has been for donkeys!! I, however, haven't a clue!
What do you want to know?

[Andy_F]

Try Mint, he does it.

[reeperR32]

thanks for all the responses..

want to know about potential career in it... done some research into the nats site.

stuff like, what skills you need, whats the training like, earning potential (NATS says good) etc etc

someone whos got 5 mins to spare and can answer these q's please. greatly appreciated

[Ruishy1]

tbh you need to have good qualifications all round, be literate, good with numbers and algebra etc.
Health wise you need to have no major health problems that can affect concentration.
Earnings is largely dependant on where you get a position, small airport is obviously lower that getting soemthing at heathrow due to workload etc.
However my mate worked at Glasgow airport, and even with mortgage and all other bills managed to spend about 25k in 2 years on cars and tuning !
Your obviously going to be earning piss poor money as you go through the training and shit, which IIRC is anywhere from 2-4 years to get.

I would however point out mate that its a VERY stressful position, if you have any homelife problems and the like, the job will compound it, apparently ATC's have one of the highest death rates ( ive not reseached this, just what ive been told from various people)

[initial_j]

was gonna say jobs like that are fucking ridiculously stressfull. you can probably imagine just how stressful it might be for a day knowing if you fuck up youve killed a load of people. now imagine having to maintain that every single day for ever!

[smokebillowing]

Bollocks to that, I think I'll carry on selling guns to children.

[reeperR32]

tbh you need to have good qualifications all round, be literate, good with numbers and algebra etc.
Health wise you need to have no major health problems that can affect concentration.
Earnings is largely dependant on where you get a position, small airport is obviously lower that getting soemthing at heathrow due to workload etc.
However my mate worked at Glasgow airport, and even with mortgage and all other bills managed to spend about 25k in 2 years on cars and tuning !
Your obviously going to be earning piss poor money as you go through the training and shit, which IIRC is anywhere from 2-4 years to get.

I would however point out mate that its a VERY stressful position, if you have any homelife problems and the like, the job will compound it, apparently ATC's have one of the highest death rates ( ive not reseached this, just what ive been told from various people)

was gonna say jobs like that are fucking ridiculously stressfull. you can probably imagine just how stressful it might be for a day knowing if you fuck up youve killed a load of people. now imagine having to maintain that every single day for ever!

thanks for the replies, very useful

i was in the police and that was pretty stressfull tbh... the shit training money is difficult as i have a mortgage etc now...

[Goddaz]

Ill ask him when i next see him, But it is very stressfull you only actually get maximum an hour (i think) at a time working with breaks inbetween becasue of the demand and i can tell you its pretty good money if you last a while and stay on for years

I shal ask about the training money too beacsue i dont imagine it being too bad! You'd be doing shifts so you actually get a fair bit of time off, and i know that nats offered him a job in Dubai for very good money!! i know alot of the young lads are going over there, why not heh!!

[Stavros]

i was in the police and that was pretty stressfull tbh... the shit training money is difficult as i have a mortgage etc now...

If its anything like a train driver wages, and I imagine it is, training time money is incredibly low (like sub 15k), and then suddenly once qualified it triples.

BUT, if somehow you can save up beforehand, and partially live off savings for the year or two training, it's well worth it as you cane it in once you qualified and on the job properly.

[Dex]

i applied for it, but got turned down. the tests to get it are fucking ridiculous aswell

[reeperR32]

from NATS website training is £10k but not sure ho long exactly but says training after 12 months you go to unit.... after 3yrs i think its £27k+ then onwards to £90k

[mint]

Hard exams, Lots of studying, Low money, high levels of stress, awkward hours, more stress, thats before you finish training.

IMO, Unless you are SERIOUSLY into aircraft.. then you wont make it past basic. Thats imo of course. Iam not strichtly ATC, Iam operations control for Helicopters. So although I do not sit in the tower, I do manage flight legs, aircraft departure/landings, plan routes, weathers, passangers etc.. My job is fucking hard work sometimes.. like today, its been manic with this fog.
Iv got aircraft stuck offshore, In dundee, In Inverness, Some in shetland.. some on route.. all trying to get in here..

Iv got all my certs for VHF Marine etc etc which allow me to use airbands, company frequency's etc. I speak to my crew on a daily basis, also sort out medevacs and coastguard aircraft, I speak to them all offshore and onshore.. oh and thats not me touching on all the IAC fixed wing flights I deal with aswell.

I want a job in Tesco tbh or the Co-op.. life was easy back then.. :/ been doing this 6 years now, some of my friends from this job are now in the tower after doing the NATS shit, they took a mega pay drop to do it, but the one guy in question could tell you ANYTHING about ANY aircraft EVER! Even down to the types of cushions on BA flights, he was seriously into aircraft (Which Iam not) so for him.. it was a piece of piss.

[Jim_Bob]

Become a railway signaller. Decent pay for doing fuck all.

[reeperR32]

Hard exams, Lots of studying, Low money, high levels of stress, awkward hours, more stress, thats before you finish training.

IMO, Unless you are SERIOUSLY into aircraft.. then you wont make it past basic. Thats imo of course. Iam not strichtly ATC, Iam operations control for Helicopters. So although I do not sit in the tower, I do manage flight legs, aircraft departure/landings, plan routes, weathers, passangers etc.. My job is fucking hard work sometimes.. like today, its been manic with this fog.
Iv got aircraft stuck offshore, In dundee, In Inverness, Some in shetland.. some on route.. all trying to get in here..

Iv got all my certs for VHF Marine etc etc which allow me to use airbands, company frequency's etc. I speak to my crew on a daily basis, also sort out medevacs and coastguard aircraft, I speak to them all offshore and onshore.. oh and thats not me touching on all the IAC fixed wing flights I deal with aswell.

I want a job in Tesco tbh or the Co-op.. life was easy back then.. :/ been doing this 6 years now, some of my friends from this job are now in the tower after doing the NATS shit, they took a mega pay drop to do it, but the one guy in question could tell you ANYTHING about ANY aircraft EVER! Even down to the types of cushions on BA flights, he was seriously into aircraft (Which Iam not) so for him.. it was a piece of piss.

Very useful thanks mate

[docwra]

£90K is not going to happen for at least 5/6 years after qualifying, probably only then if you relocate to the armpit of the world as well.

[Ruishy1]

90k is only going to happen if you work at heathrow or some other huge airport. 50-60k is more likely for a normal sized airfield