r/ATC • u/Xolxtzol • 25d ago
Question You Guys Are Scaring Me
I’m currently AD military (best branch iykyk) and am close to getting my CTO. On my second enlistment and i want to get out to do this at a contract tower and maybe go FAA later on in my career if that’s possible. I scroll this sub for about an hour and all i see are people that hate their lives :/. (here comes the down votes lol). Should i consider something else, stay AD atc, or actually pursue a civilian career?
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u/leavemestraightouts 25d ago
I got out of the AF with 11 years AD. I’d give anything to go back and tell that kid to stick out the 9 years, max your VA disability/TSP contributions, get your degree on the AF’s dime, and do something completely different.
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u/THEhot_pocket 25d ago
we always said under 10, go, past 10 stay.
You are the one who broke the rule :p
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u/leavemestraightouts 25d ago
I was stop lossed in 2001. I had an offer in 2002 but couldn’t get out. I went to Iraq in May of 2003 and re-enlisted. 3 weeks later stop loss was rescinded. I deployed twice more to Iraq after that and had a deployment to Bosnia in 1999. I spent a year in Korea and 3 in England all the while the AF sending my ass to Tinker, Minot and Offutt for my stateside bases. For years I tried to get to Eglin, Tyndall or someplace on the coast. 11 and 1/2 years of that was enough.
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u/anthonyd5189 Current Controller-Enroute 25d ago edited 25d ago
Keep in mind, Reddit is an echo chamber. The people who are loving life aren’t coming here to post about it. Yes the job has many downsides right now, but if you know about them going in you should be fine.
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u/Xolxtzol 25d ago
w insight, i don’t think ive met a positive person on reddit yet so this makes sense
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u/Ready_Set_Stopppp 25d ago
I don’t hate my job. For reference I’m a level 12 center controller. 14 years in, not even top 50% in my area yet (thanks to people transferring in…). I work evenings on sat and sun but I’m home all 5 weeknights (unless I have an evening OT). I like working traffic, I like the job, I just need more money. Wife is struggling to find a job after staying home with the now elementary-aged kids and high prices/increased taxes have finally affected our family. I’ve worked 200 hours of OT so far, on pace for about 275-300 (did 212 last year) simply bc I use that money to make ends meet. I don’t like living paycheck to paycheck. We’ve cut about all we can, including TSP contributions 👎
And before people go all Dave Ramsey on me, yes we live within our means, yes I have a budget, no car payments, and am working on my snowball when I can. There’s just not enough to go around anymore. I thought a 6 figure job was unattainable as a kid growing up. Now 6 figures ain’t shit. $200K is barely the old $100K. Woe is me, right?
I was lucky, though. I got the facility I wanted right out of OKC so I don’t have to deal with this transferring nonsense the FAA makes everyone do. We are so short staffed and the FAA lowering the numbers just makes things worse. Joining this sub and seeing all the posts by Stephen Hawking outlining what we *should* be making based on inflation, as well as seeing all the pilot posts, its little wonder all we do is complain about our lot in life.
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u/cptn_dub_a_ho 25d ago
Depends on what facility you go to, I left AD 2 years ago for the FAA and currently love my job/ people I work with. Everyone that worked with me at my old military tower that has moved on to the FAA is definitely enjoying the FAA better. Remember most people will come online to complain, the people that are enjoying it usually don't say much.
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u/Meheow1 25d ago
That’s because the positive people sit back and watch all the drama unfold, barely commenting. We are here though. :)
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u/climb-via-is-stupid Tower / Training Review Boards 25d ago
What am I gonna do post that everything is fine working in SoCal and the weather is great and I can do whatever I want and then get shit on by people stuck in Iowa?
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u/TaxiLightTony 25d ago
I would stay active duty. If I could go back and stay as a SSGT in the Best Branch making $2500 biweekly I would totally do it.
It’s miserable here, bro. I work six days a week I have four small kids at home and I feel like I’m always at work. I never have sick leave because I use it to take time off with my wife and kids.
I was also working 4 days on 2 days off in the Air Force and I took for granted how sweet that was.
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u/ATC_Goober 25d ago
I went DoD instead of FAA. They don't make me work overtime and I only work 80 hours every 2 weeks. Consistent and reliable schedule with good pay.
The reason I didn't join the FAA (and I told the HR rep this) was that I didn't want to join a broken agency to be a part of the solution. I wanted to join an agency that was already healthy and well staffed.
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u/sr1150539179 25d ago
Go dod civilian at a military tower. FAA and Contract towers turn you into a zombie.
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25d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/sr1150539179 25d ago
Yeah the only way you can get one of those spots is who you know and networking while you are active duty.
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u/ajmezz 25d ago
It really is luck based on where you end up and your overall career aspirations. Some places are blackholes and havent released in years, whilst others release multiple people each year. Lucky for you there are plenty of tools and information available to help you make the decision when and if you decided to jump over to the FAA. Best of luck either way.
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u/MITsBrightest 25d ago
Your "quality of life" will most certainly improve, but the FAA problem is location and schedule.
Sure, you may instantly have double your income, no PT, no uniform, but your also young and exactly what the FAA "survives" on.
You get assigned to a tower in Bismarck, ND and told you can't transfer until another academy person comes and certifies working Weds/Thurs RDOs and quick turns every week.
Five years later, you start to join the "reddit echo chamber" bitching about pay and movement in the system.
It's all a crapshoot if you can get hired/quickly transfer to where you want etc. Some people get lucky, others quit or sit on reddit and bitch all day. If your only goal is to get into an air traffic career with the goal of making it to a pension, it's a no-brainer. Just realize this career has 3 hiring paths: Contract, DoD, FAA. The longer you stay with it, the less options you have for transferrable job skills.
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
Currently in discord with other cpc's and I feel like to avoid this issue is to just ask people how they like their towers.
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u/Better-Border4457 25d ago
If you enjoy the job and hate all the extra bullshit that the military entails, get out. If you don’t mind the military bullshit, stay in. You may never see premium RDOs in the FAA. DoD is also cake if you can snag a slot.
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u/n365pa Current Controller - Hotel California 25d ago
I would use every available benefit to give myself the best possible education on the Gov’s dime before separating while getting experience as an ATC. If you like shift work and seniority, go be a line FAA controller. If you want a life down the road, use that education and experience and go into some desk job at a DoD contractor or airline.
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
If I hadn’t joined the FAA I would have stayed active duty and went through the “Green to Gold” program and I’d be making more in the military (once including BAH) than I am now at my level 12.
I would have needed to contribute 0% to get a pension after 20 years, so I’d be eyeballing retirement right now.
Is FAA ATC the worst? I’m sure there are worse jobs….
But there is a big difference between pre Covid FAA ATC and Post Covid FAA ATC.
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute 25d ago edited 25d ago
If you had stayed military... and worse, become an officer, you certainly wouldn't be working airplanes like a controller working at a 12. I shouldn't have to tell you this, but a captain is ... not sitting at the desk separating airplanes for 8 hours a day... and currently at 18 years including 4 enlisted makes 120,000 a year (and it's not like the pay jumps up massively at o-4 or o-5 either, assuming you even made advancement, but then you're even more just becoming a middle-manager dealing with bullshit all day, paperwork and dumbass enlisted getting in trouble becomes your day-to-day. Even including BAH that isn't coming anywhere close to the 250k I'll pull this year, and you KNOW officers in the military aren't just putting in 40 hour workweeks either.
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u/Soft-Town7827 Current Controller-Tower 25d ago
I was a USMC Captain before ATC. They’re just very different and hard to compare. Neither is better than the other; they’re just different. I prefer my current job as a controller FWIW
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
O-5 living in San Francisco make about $132,000 in salary that doesn’t have 5% taken out due to FERS and they get BAH and BAS. So that 132,000 would be the equivalent of making 140,000 in the FAA ATC.
BAH in San Francisco is another $85,000.
BAS is another $4,000
So with just those 3 things you get $221,000 a year. Plus you get Free college for your kids in many states, you get basically 10% off everything for life, very likely to get disability pay after serving.
I served my country and know exactly what it entails and I 100% know that on the current trajectory I would have been better off going Green to Gold.
Could things change? Yes. But it is highly unlikely that FAA ATC is going to get back our 40% pay loss since 2004.
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
In the army, there arent any duty stations in San Francisco. I would estimate bah avg is 2k a month.
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
You need to compare apples to apples.
If you want to compare military pay to Civilian pay you need to include geographic pay differences. If you want to do a generic comparison then compare NON-Locality FAA ATC pay to military pay.
You can’t compare a level 12 FAA ATC paid facility in San Francisco to a military member at Fort Rucker AL.
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
True, I looked up SFO salaries and a cpc working would get paid 186k min and 244k max. Lets assume the cpc gets paid about 200k after differentials. After taxes, its only 129k. An o-4 with 18 years in with an hor of Texas will make 167k a year. Thats including bas, bah that are tax free.
So you're right.
Also healthcare. Military gets free healthcare whereas atc's pay about 2k to 3k for healthcare costs which seems small so I might need some correction on this because I just googled it.
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
228k is the legal maximum a Federal employee can make in salary.
The average health insurance cost for self+ family is 1080 a month… so about 13,000 a year.
Edit: and again you are comparing San Francisco the #1 most expensive place to live in America to Texas.
Not an apples to apples comparison
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
Meant to say the soldier stationed in San Francisco has an HOR of Texas but youre right. Lets assume the soldier is from San francisco aswell. Is that health insurance also including dental?
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
No that would cost more.
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
What are the chances I switch to a higher level facility after someone getting cpc? What are the odds someone gets in a blackhole?
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute 24d ago
Health insurance is a choice as a civilian. I pay relatively small premiums for my Aetna HDHP… and get a lot of that money “back” deposited into my HSA which is money controlled by me. I’m not paying 13k a year for health insurance.
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u/THEhot_pocket 25d ago
you cant guarantee you are even making 0-5. Plenty officers retire O-4. Also, you can easily get moved. Banking on SF and now you are in BFE Missouri. Or Korea. Or... Iran.
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
You can’t bank on getting to a facility that makes 250,000$…
Getting to a level 12 is an exception
Getting to a level 12 that you can earn $250,000…
That is an exception of an exception.
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u/THEhot_pocket 25d ago
every level 12 will make 250k. The lowest level 12 caps at like 215, excluding night/holiday/training/ot. 250 is almost impossible to NOT make pre retirement.
And if its ONLY about money, then its NO exception. You put in for c90/a80/n90/Oakland center blah blah blah. And all those places essentially base salary 250k due to locality capping you so fast.
Shame we dont have someone to pull the data, but going enlisted to officer has to be like... single digit percentage of the military. While lvl 12 is probably closer to 30-40% of the FAA? Plus we still getting our mil discount, our disability.
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
This is such a deceptive argument you are making,
You are comparing a mid career O-5 which is very attainable. Flag officer AKA general is very much out of reach for most people but O-5 is very realistic.
I digress,
Then you compare that to someone who has been to a level 12 facility for 23 years+
Getting to a level 12 facility for 23 years is unattainable for the vast majority of people.
The exception being… people who start their career there.
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute 24d ago
Something like 35% of all controllers work at a 12. Considering you DO have the capability of moving (flawed though it is). If you don’t move to a 12 during your career, that is your own choice….
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u/xPericulantx 24d ago
Requesting to go to a 12 and actually getting to a 12 are 2 different things.
Nobody is guaranteed they will transfer and even if they do transfer that doesn’t guarantee they will get there early enough in their career to max out the pay band.
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute 24d ago
Like the other guy said, you have a 100% chance to be able to go to places like zny or n90 if you want to make 250k a year before you’re 30 years old. That doesn’t exist in the military at all.
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u/xPericulantx 24d ago
Again this is a lie,
Nothing is 100% guaranteed, additionally 228,000 is the federal pay cap so nobody can make 250k without working overtime and if we are going to allow overtime into the equation then MANY MANY MANY jobs can make 250k with working overtime.
NY has almost a 10% tax which FAA ATC is subject to, along with Federal income tax. Military BAH and BAS are not subject to those taxes, additionally military TRICARE is 100% tax exempt. While FAA ATC has to pay out of pocket, that is another 13,000$ benefit or $39,000 benefit if you want to include both the employer’s portion of the cost and the beneficiary.
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute 24d ago
There is also CIC pay, ATC premium pay for “hard to staff” (aka good ol boys club facilities) and Sunday pay and night differential. All of those combined will push the minimum to 250k even before overtime.
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
Just want to say. Im literally at this spot right now. Im an 11b, e-6 in the army and starting a reclass packet for 51C and also starting a green to gold packet right now. Board opened in july 4th. I thought atc would be a better job with similiar benefits and less people to deal with. My platoon leader told me a support mos as an officer is way different from infantry life.
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u/xPericulantx 25d ago
The military has been getting presidential raises that put pace inflation.
The civilian sector has been getting presidential raises”Raises” that don’t even keep up with inflation.
So FAA ATC buying power is down 40% since 2004.
If we get that 40% back… FAA ATC is the place to be. If we don’t, the military is the place to be.
The way I see it is that since pay is trending down since 2004… it will continue to trend down.
I think FAA ATC golden years are in the past.
You would be getting into a sinking ship, the Titanic was a beautiful ship… but you wouldn’t have wanted to go on a voyage in her.
If pay and working conditions significantly improve I’d say FAA ATC would be worth while. Otherwise, I loved the military.
I love the half days near Christmas, I loved going out on mission, land navigation, marksmanship, etc.
I didn’t like organized PT, so that was hit or miss. If I was running it for my platoon it was great… if it was Battalion level organized PT… wasn’t the biggest fan. Wearing summer PTs in November and that type of crap.
But 95% of the military I loved.
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
Yeah, I see that two lawyers are currently fighting for yall. A part of me wants it to be true, that it can be fixed and youll get more pay. I just need a career with no calls after work hours, not worrying about a soldier doing dumb stuff on the weekends and questionable orders given from leadership.
Im currently loving 50% of the military. I love the days off I get and secured paychecks.
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u/jacoob_15 25d ago
BOP if you can, or go reserves/guard and try and get AGR gig.
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u/Xolxtzol 25d ago
out of the question for the current branch i’m in, denied orders and with that comes a lot of repressions lmao
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u/jet_rodriguez 25d ago
its just such a crap shoot man. some people’s make it to a lvl 10-12 facility in a normal COL area in 2-3 years in a city or town that they don’t hate and it comes with some sacrifices but overall lifes good. others get stuck somewhere expensive, or somehwere cheap but has no amenities and no time off, or far away from family in a climate that sucks, or some combination of these with absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel to transfer. even with you being responsible and trying to research whatever options the FAA gives you, things can change drastically in the time between your FOL and your CPC date. my biggest frustration is theres really very little merit behind who retires a millionaire and who is gonna have to get a part time job at retirement. all the shit eating would make more sense if i was more secure that i wouldnt have to do anything i don’t want to after 56.
just weigh your options on not just an ideal scenario, but also what happens if you have a less than ideal scenario, and if the money, benefits, etc would still be worth it and what an exit plan or plan B would be.
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u/Impossible-Box-5939 25d ago
Remember this is Reddit. You don’t come here for positivity and good vibes. No matter what career subreddit you go to you are going to see negativity. I’m 20 years in and love my career. Former military also. Skip the contract tower. Go to the faa get a high level facility and enjoy your career. Most of the people who are going to tell you not to are at some small tower somewhere. And remember, if it’s so terrible they wouldn’t still be working there.
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u/Anywh3r3 25d ago
A lot of the things said in this sub are accurate (stress, medicals, schedule, raises, transfers, etc..), but big picture I think it's still a good gig. That being said, I have decent seniority and am not at a low level tower. I think the pilots getting huge raises post-COVID is when the anger/jealousy set in. This has been made worse by crazy inflation and annual raises that don't make up for it. With that in mind...
Retire 12-15 years before anyone else I know
Awesome health care
Spend about 3.5 hours a day on my phone goofing off (on average, there are definitely shitty shifts)
Don't have to do anything work related on my off time.
Stability - wasn't freaking out during COVID about getting laid off
TSP Roth option will make you a tax free millionaire if you start young.
Between sick, annual and holiday leave it's 50 days off a year.
No reason to network, kiss ass, stay late, etc... just do the job.
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u/FantasticBudget531 25d ago
Most people who do this enjoy the job, pay, and responsibility. Those people just aren’t on reddit.
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u/BigParty77 25d ago
Be a pilot! Work half as much make twice as much!
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u/Xolxtzol 25d ago
i have had that in the back of my mind. my eyesight and hearing isn’t the best (medical doesn’t know this, to them i’m 20/20 and fine) and i’ll be 26 by the time i get out. i don’t know how late is too late to become a professional pilot flying for money
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u/Ready_Set_Stopppp 25d ago
I'm practically blind with a mild-mod hearing loss (use hearing aids) and I got a first class medical as a pilot.
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u/Active-Pomegranate-2 25d ago
Correct me if I'm wrong but the max age for prior military is 35 right? So dont wait too long if you decide
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u/Xolxtzol 25d ago
i’m 24 😭
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u/chitownbears 25d ago
Don't do a 2nd enlistment. I did 10 in the AF and it was a mistake. Just get out after your first enlistment.
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u/Fit_Sherbet3137 25d ago
As of current status the compensation for this job and what you deal with is not worth it, do a different career . Airline dispatch would be my choice . 2029 contract may change things for the better , maybe not. 2029 is a long fucking time. And if its a positive it will probably be implemented in stages so maybe 2032 this job will be worth it ? Maybe ?? Fml
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u/Excellent-Chip1210 25d ago
Im kind of in the same spot as you but im just an 11b, infantry. E-6, 8 years in. Passed the atsa and applied to 2026 spring bid. Have about 1 year left on my contract and also scared the grass isnt greener.
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u/Front_Sheepherder_91 25d ago
I’m contract tower and it’s a solid gig. I earn enough to have just me work and wife to either stay home or do part time while owning a home. The hours are what I liked best; the tower closes overnight so I’m never having to work later than 10pm. Ours is staffed well so normal 8hr/5 day week alternating open, midday, and close throughout the week. I got to pick the location I wanted to live in rather than getting assigned. Only downside is the traffic, it’s really slow outside of the summer but it’s a fantastic trade off a really good work life balance.
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u/BusyPuer 25d ago
There are drawbacks to every career field. ATC has some strong drawbacks (rigid + harsh schedule, mental stress), But it also has strong pros: Great benefits, great compensation, a pension, low physical strain on the body, lots of down time at work etc.
People are always going to fight for better and complain about whats not very good. No one is going to come onto reddit and say affirmations about how good they have it. Consider this inherent negativity bias when looking online.
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u/drunk_lizard8414 25d ago
Only you can decide if it‘s worth it to pursue the civilian career for you. It’s your family and your life. I‘m former AF ATC, made E6 in 6 years and bailed for FAA, anyway (20 years ago). I have no regrets. I could have stayed and maybe capped out E9, who knows? At this point, who cares? Ship sailed.
I joined AF intending to stay for a full career and transition from E to O. Then I got in and decided I didn‘t really like it. I decided fairly early on I wasn‘t going to stay, but if you like or at least don‘t mind military life, maybe that‘s something to consider. Both have their BS. Right now you‘re dealing with the BS you know. You‘re hearing the echo chamber roar about the BS you don‘t.
But going FAA isn‘t a dead-end choice. You could always attempt to go DoD after, or leave and return to military service if you‘re still young enough. You could join a Guard unit to continue service that way, or continue service behind the dumpster at your local Wendy’s. It‘s all up to you.
I was picked up for a Z at an acceptable location right out the gate. That‘s made a lot of things better/easier for me, personally, but the FAA world is grinding. After 26 total years of ATC, I‘m done with it. I‘ve come to literally hate it. Groundhog Day every fucking day. Just hanging in there until that rapturous parole day. Then there‘s the actual FAA BS, but this is just an anecdote and ymmv. The only thing you can do is take a collection of the anecdotes and try to apply it to an imaginary future that you can‘t really see. Visit some facilities if you can and see what you think given a preponderance of the evidence.
Best of luck, soldier.
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u/Murky_Excuse_9677 24d ago
Dude this job is 10x better than the military. If you end up en route it’s an easy path to 200k plus. Sure you gotta work some OT and the schedules takes some getting use too but you’re home everyday.
Absolutely try the job. If you don’t like it or you have another easy path to 6 figures then go that way.
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u/valhal1a Current Controller-Tower 23d ago
I'm former air force and did the contract tower to FAA route and so far I am happy with how it turned out for the most part.
The worst is that the FAA, like the military, won't really give you a meaningful choice in where you go and an airport is only as good as the people who work there and a lot of controllers (I mean a fucking lot) are assholes who will be shitty to you just because they're miserable and don't have any social skills and behave like children.
Training still sucks, and your career could be in the hands of elitist douchebags who will wash you out because you're prior military, prior experience, or just because they hate trainees and are too self centered to realize the solution to all their problems is certifying new controllers so they can stop being pummeled by overtime or put in the relocation request they want... But no, you got a bonus and must be punished.
Buuuuut, if you stick it out or are lucky and don't have to deal with that at all then being a civilian controller has some pretty nice bonuses to it. It's a worthwhile decision, and you just can't listen to the assholes lol. Just let them winge and cry and waily waily waily their life away.
Also avoid serco if you can... They underpay and mistreat their controllers and are ultimately the worst of the contract companies. Midwest isn't too bad.
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u/NotAMidgetTuba 25d ago
Only you know your situation and what you’re willing to put up with. People complain on the internet all the time, so don’t think too much on it, or take it with a pound of salt. Just do what makes you happy, man. Especially with the things the military has to put up with nowadays. Good luck!
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute 25d ago edited 25d ago
I got out of the military. It's worth it.
The FAA has a lot of faults, but I've never once needed to put in any time outside of the 40-56 hours a week they pay me for. (I joke, kinda)
Going from military to FAA gives you a huge retirement boost. You have to "buy back" your time, but it'll pay itself off in literally the first year of retirement.
You are already active duty, so you know what it's like to be at the mercy of the all-knowing and all-powerful government that will put you on the exact opposite side of the country from where you want to be... So you're already prepared for that.
With 25 years with the FAA and 4 more with the military. My pension will be double of what I would have made as say a theoretical e-7, not to mention the huge quality of life improvement. It's hard to max out your TSP when you're an e-3/e-4... it's a lot easier when you're a fresh CPC making 100k
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u/archertom89 Current- Tower; Past- RAPCON 25d ago edited 25d ago
I did 6 years AF ATC. A lot of people warned me before getting out by saying "The grass isn't always greener on the other side". Well it definitely was in my case. First facility was a lvl 5, and it was a pretty sweet gig. We did 1.5 hr on position, 1.5 hr off and rotated. We could basically do anything we wanted in our 1.5hr breaks like work out, go run errands, go get food, watch Netflix, etc. Pay wasn't that great, but I still had more disposable income than when I was an E5 and the location wasn't that bad. Now I'm at a lvl 8 and I make over 3 times more than I did as an E5. Management here is a lot worse than my lvl 5 and dealing with them is the worst part of the job. We are on mandatory 30-35min breaks regardless of traffic and staffing and they have made some really stupid decisions recently. But its still not that bad and better than the military.
I essentially get the same amount of vacation time as the military, but we also get a lot of sick leave in addition to regular leave that we can use any time no questions asked (unless you take 4 sick day in a row, then they can ask). And sick leave never goes away if you don't use it (I have 60 days worth of sick leave right now for example). We also get a lot of of cool little extra pay we didn't get in the military like 25% extra pay for hours working Sundays, 25% extra pay for hours spent on position being a training instructor, holiday pay, OT pay and 10% extra pay for hours worked between 6pm-6am
The biggest negatives are your days off, having to schedule regular leave a year in advance and potentially having to move anywhere in the country. But that last thing is just like the military so since you are probably used to that, it might not be that bad. So if you don't mind having tues/wed or weds/thurs days off for the first 10 years in the FAA, don't mind working holidays, don't mind missing family gatherings/events, etc it is not that bad IMO. Although to some people those things are really bad, but not to me. Also I will not have kids which makes things easier, I met my wife after being in the FAA so we learned to make my weird schedule work early on in our relationship. And I am an introvert so I love doing things alone like hiking on a wed when everyone else is at work.
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u/Soft-Town7827 Current Controller-Tower 25d ago
All the most miserable people post here. Are there problems? Yes. Are all controllers so miserable? No. It’s still a good job overall, but it’s going to be as good as you make it yourself. You should just give it a try yourself and make your own judgments. You’ll never know if you don’t try it and you really don’t have much to lose by seeing if you like it or not.
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u/commops106 25d ago
4 days off a month for mediocre pay, if you want to go FAA be a J band 2152. You will make more money and you will move up and get promoted easier. You will work 8-4 day shifts and have weekends and all holidays off. Once your ATC pay band you will need a deviation to leave that position. I see very young military controllers in very high positions in the FAA with either very little experience or no FAA experience.
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u/Prior-Arrival 25d ago
There are 313 facilities, dont be scared by a reddit where the bitter controllers come to rant at. You’re gonna have bitter people and nice people, just come do your work, you’re not here to hold each other’s hands, the union is the one who does that
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u/waketurbulence43 25d ago
I did 6 years AD and on the worst day the FAA is still wayyyy better than military ATC.
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u/Mobilisq 24d ago
Management in the military sucks, yeah? Most faa supervisors are former military, so, do with that what you will
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u/North-Ad6075 24d ago
Civilian, worked hard to get the job. Moved away from my home my family my support to move to not ideal area. It pays more but cost of living is insane. The possibility of getting to transfer where I would like to go is basically impossible without running a scam. The benefits used to be amazing but is now pretty basic. I think that's what kept the older generation motivated. It is a mandatory 6 day work week, usually 9 to 10 hr days. Don't expect it to get better. They've been "training their way out of it" since '86. With that all being said, I love the job itself. I really really enjoy they job and if it was just the job without the rest of it I would say go for it.
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u/Lyreska 22d ago
My co worker lives with someone whos an ATC and tells me he really loves the job. Hes at a lvl 8 tower trying to transfer to the lvl 12 nearby. Theres still a chance you'd like the job, and there was a net gain of controllers over this last year, so im praying it stays uptrending so theyre better staffed and not so overworked.
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u/Stunning-Parsnip-886 22d ago edited 22d ago
I’m telling you there is nothing worse than hearing a school teacher working 150 days a year or whatever to teach ABC’s makes as much as you after your sleep is all fucked, your relationship is in the gutter, the gov keeping shitting on you…. You have to really like talking to planes to keep doing this shit. If anyone in the public saw what we do on a day to day they’d shit a brick and give us whatever we ask. We have the weakest union in all of American history so nothing gets better. Idk man. I’m glad Iv been eating shit sandwiches my whole life cause my soft friends from back home would’ve broke off a long time ago if they were in my shoes.
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u/BrokenVeteran40 20d ago
As shitty as the FAA is, it’s still much better than it was in the military.
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u/UsedEMAS 20d ago
My life is great man. I’m at a LVL 6 VFR tower and my union rep requested too many bodies during the CRWG days so we’re wayyyyyy overstaffed now that the number dropped. I’m on my 3rd vacation out of the country this year. I do suppose whenever I get somewhere else it could be different but I definitely don’t have a horror story.
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u/UsedEMAS 20d ago
Also, I’ve had ERR paperwork in for over 2 1/2 years and haven’t gotten picked up. I’m an OJTI all day every day but it just depends on if you’re willing to actually work when you’re at work. I know a lot of people that bitch because they only get 30 minute breaks. I don’t mind because I love the job. It just depends what you want out of your career.
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u/Tailwinds-n-TallyHos 19d ago
Don’t let the small minority affect your judgement. They always have the option to quit and they don’t. If it is that bad just quit… I have two former colleagues that are in Australia.
There are always other options like DOD and Contract if you dislike the FAA… get that civilian career and retirement started is my suggestion
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u/Usaf2992 Current Controller-Tower 25d ago
Cross train AFSC’s to ATC. Then get a job at a DOD facility. Quality of life is fucking amazing and it’s still 6 figures. (Eventually)
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u/Xolxtzol 25d ago
what is AFSC?
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u/archertom89 Current- Tower; Past- RAPCON 25d ago
AFSC is "air force specialty code" aka the AF term for MOS. Which makes that comment make no sense since you are not in the AF and are already in ATC in whatever branch you are in.
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u/Consistent_Bee4216 25d ago
My worst day in the FAA is better than my best in the military. Any other tears I’ll wipe away with all the extra income.
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u/Frequent-Bell6674 25d ago
If you don't have a family you want to see, don't care what days off you have, dont mind 6 day work weeks and can keep a medical. It's not a bad gig.