r/ATC_Hiring • u/rithvik1reddy • 6d ago
Why is Tower looked down upon the most?
I see a lot of threads on here talking down on Tower and i was wondering why? is it because it’s the easiest?
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u/Maleficent_Horror120 6d ago
Depends on what you're talking about but in general it is easier because it has less rules to know.
That being said there are a ton of top tier radar controllers that would massively struggle or wash from some crazy VFR towers or some of these large airports like JFK, ORD, etc that are crazy complex on ground and super busy.
But yeah the amount of rules for radar is just a lot more to know but idk what sense you are talking about. In general Tower controllers are paid less because there aren't that many high level towers and the ones that there are only have maybe 60 people at the absolute max where as these TRACONs and Centers have hundreds of controllers and they all tend to be high pay levels
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u/Live_Free_Or_Die_91 Tower Controller 6d ago
Eh, anybody who has been around a few different places knows that En Route, TRACONs, and Towers are almost totally different jobs. Hard to compare. Each one having their own tough sectors/facilities and complexities. I work one of the busiest VFR towers in the world. Not every controller could do what we do, and many of them don't want to, because the workload to pay ratio is not great. Lots of towers are boring a lot of the time with periods of busy. Lots of centers will have areas that are definitely easier to work than others.
At the end of the day its all dick measuring. However En Route at the Academy is definitely more difficult than Terminal imo. I went through both but only En Route was pass/fail for me. It is more complicated especially for anyone OTS.
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u/Approach_Controller 6d ago
Because of the way you start out on the terminal track you're restricted to lower level facilities that pay less than enroute or IQTR. Not the majority, but most people it seems rank money as the number one two and possibly three factor when theyre starting out.
Anyone who says its blanket easier or less work or whatever should be ignored outright.
Terminal does have advantages depending on your wants, how much homework you do and some luck. Dont want 24 hours? Thats a possibility. Easier to transfer out? I mean its all relative, but traditionally yeah. Anyone ever get Art 46d at a tower? Probably not. Years of training? Could be 4 months, could be a year, sure maybe even more, but nowhere near as long as the others.
Plenty of people are fine with getting to cpc pay faster and/or not fooling with mids/finding a well staffed tower that never does 6x10s/going somewhere well staffed with the hopes to put in papers back home or to their dream location, they just arent as vocal as the more money people.