Air Traffic Controllers
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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
Key knowledge
- Transportation
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Education and Training
- Customer and Personal Service
- Geography
- Telecommunications
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Issue landing and take-off authorizations or instructions.
- Monitor aircraft within a specific airspace, using radar, computer equipment, or visual references.
- Inform pilots about nearby planes or potentially hazardous conditions, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, or visibility problems.
- 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.
- Direct pilots to runways when space is available or direct them to maintain a traffic pattern until there is space for them to land.
- Transfer control of departing flights to traffic control centers and accept control of arriving flights.
- Determine the timing or procedures for flight vector changes.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Realistic, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (36.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (42.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (38.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Air Traffic Controllers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 77% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 82% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 93% of occupations compared | 83% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 65% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 81% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 82% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 93% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 4.18%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.19%
- Contact with others most of the time: 5.71%
- Constant contact with others: 86.92%
n = 53, Incumbent 07/2014
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 11.46%
- Fairly important: 3.16%
- Important: 4.54%
- Very important: 10.35%
- Extremely important: 70.49%
n = 54, Incumbent 07/2014
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.97%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 15.68%
- Extremely important: 83.34%
n = 54, Incumbent 07/2014
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 9.21%
- Limited freedom: 11.1%
- Some freedom: 20.83%
- A lot of freedom: 58.86%
n = 54, Incumbent 07/2014
Time pressure
- Never: 26.88%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 7.97%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.19%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 6.83%
- Every day: 48.14%
n = 53, Incumbent 07/2014
Conflict situations
- Never: 1.06%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.45%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.78%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.36%
- Every day: 65.35%
n = 53, Incumbent 07/2014
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 1.06%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.67%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 30.32%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 29.78%
- Every day: 20.17%
n = 53, Incumbent 07/2014
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 16.97%
- Fairly serious: 2.62%
- Serious: 2.26%
- Very serious: 2.2%
- Extremely serious: 75.94%
n = 54, Incumbent 07/2014
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O*NET-SOC 53-2021.00 · SOC 53-2021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8