How has this not been discussed? I have no idea what skills make for good ATCs, other than being able to use the phonetic alphabet, lol.

Good thing?

Quote:

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Game. Set. Match @USDOT
@FAANews

Our campaign to recruit GAMERS to apply to become AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS is RECORD BREAKING!

12 THOUSAND applications in 24 hours - the most in one day since the FAA was created 68 YEARS ago!

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Game. Set. Match 🎮 @USDOT @FAANews

Our campaign to recruit GAMERS to apply to become AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS is RECORD BREAKING!

12 THOUSAND applications in 24 hours - the most in one day since the FAA was created 68 YEARS ago!

@PDoocy @SundayBriefFNC 📺⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iBWLZBGihW

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) April 19, 2026

agsquirrel97 said:

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13B said:

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Multi-tasking ability, some geometry and spatial comprehension. Gamers are not a horrible pool to draw from as long as they are mature.

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pwned l33t

qq moar!

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Haha! Exactly!

I'd imagine someone good at realtime strategy games would be a good air traffic controller.

If they could work from their parent's basement, it would be a great fit. ; )

13B said:

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Multi-tasking ability, some geometry and spatial comprehension. Gamers are not a horrible pool to draw from as long as they are mature.

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I have done a good amount of work with ATC...

I think this is a good thing. It's all a part of BNATCS.

Ag with kids said:

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13B said:

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Multi-tasking ability, some geometry and spatial comprehension. Gamers are not a horrible pool to draw from as long as they are mature.

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I have done a good amount of work with ATC...

I think this is a good thing. It's all a part of BNATCS.

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15 years ago the FAA gave my office their computer based Air Traffic Control exam to see if we could use it to screen NASA flight controllers. In addition to the questionnaire there was a game component to it where you could adjust the speed and vector of little jet icons on a screen.

You would get penalized if the jets had to wait too long to land so I would vector them all directly to the airport and try to maintain the sequencing and spacing using speed alone rather than lining them up giving them all the same final vector and approach speeds. My approach scored well when the traffic was light but I crashed a lot of planes when traffic picked up.

lb3 said:

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Ag with kids said:

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13B said:

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Multi-tasking ability, some geometry and spatial comprehension. Gamers are not a horrible pool to draw from as long as they are mature.

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I have done a good amount of work with ATC...

I think this is a good thing. It's all a part of BNATCS.

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15 years ago the FAA gave my office their computer based Air Traffic Control exam to see if we could use it to screen NASA flight controllers. In addition to the questionnaire there was a game component to it where you could adjust the speed and vector of little jet icons on a screen.

You would get penalized if the jets had to wait too long to land so I would vector them all directly to the airport and try to maintain the sequencing and spacing using speed alone rather than lining them up giving them all the same final vector and approach speeds. My approach scored well when the traffic was light but I crashed a lot of planes when traffic picked up.

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This is what we in the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry are calling Dynamic Capacity Balancing (DCB).

The concept of DCB is to figure out how all the aircraft in 4D space (XYZ+time).

Now, this is for the subsection of air traffic in the NAS, but, I hope a few ideas bleed over to the main ATC....

It is difficult to define what makes a good ATC and what level of work can they obtain. An entry level at a tower 80k is less Demanding than that of a major airport at 175k+.

The hardest part of advancing to a major airport, is the willingness to relocate and to not quit! Two years ago We had 21 Controllers check into DFW only one made it. That is a major investment that doesn't work well. Lots of moving parts and video games don't kill people.

Military training is still the best feeder program and not a bad job in the military.

They will eliminate 11,996 of those 12,000 with a drug test.

Principal Uncertainty said:

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They will eliminate 11,996 of those 12,000 with a DOT drug test.

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Edit, Zephyr got me

agsquirrel97 said:

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13B said:

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Multi-tasking ability, some geometry and spatial comprehension. Gamers are not a horrible pool to draw from as long as they are mature.

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pwned l33t

qq moar!

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I miss the 2000s.

Leeeeroy Jenkinnnnnssssss!!!

agAngeldad said:

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It is difficult to define what makes a good ATC and what level of work can they obtain. An entry level at a tower 80k is less Demanding than that of a major airport at 175k+.

The hardest part of advancing to a major airport, is the willingness to relocate and to not quit! Two years ago We had 21 Controllers check into DFW only one made it. That is a major investment that doesn't work well. Lots of moving parts and video games don't kill people.

Military training is still the best feeder program and not a bad job in the military.

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This is what my sister trained for in the Navy. She passed at the top of her class, but she married a Marine and got pregnant and never got a chance to be in the tower. Those days, you were out as soon as you got pregnant.

Any good ATC games out there?

Also will this be like The Last Starfighter where the high score gets to become the ultimate Controller

2aggiesmom said:

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agAngeldad said:

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It is difficult to define what makes a good ATC and what level of work can they obtain. An entry level at a tower 80k is less Demanding than that of a major airport at 175k+.

The hardest part of advancing to a major airport, is the willingness to relocate and to not quit! Two years ago We had 21 Controllers check into DFW only one made it. That is a major investment that doesn't work well. Lots of moving parts and video games don't kill people.

Military training is still the best feeder program and not a bad job in the military.

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This is what my sister trained for in the Navy. She passed at the top of her class, but she married a Marine and got pregnant and never got a chance to be in the tower. Those days, you were out as soon as you got pregnant.

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Dang. That sux. If she is under 30, she could still
Apply and have an advantage over most off the street

I've started to wonder if AI can take over some ATC functions. Primarily "Center" controllers only handle aircraft above 10,000ftv when they've handed off from the departure controller up until they contact approach at their destination.

These are a lot of people that by and large watch airplanes for in a straight line across their screen until they hang them to the controller next to them who again watches them for across their screen.

Have a few people still there that can handle situations beyond the AI capability and have the AI defer at all times to the human override. A transponder codoe could be used to designate the AI handover. For example Mayday and PanPan use a designated transponder code, I think it's 7777.

AI can't do a Google search or fact check a short essay without making **** up. Maybe in the future but nowhere near reliable enough now.

agsquirrel97 said:

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13B said:

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Multi-tasking ability, some geometry and spatial comprehension. Gamers are not a horrible pool to draw from as long as they are mature.

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pwned l33t

qq moar!

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$ynt4x ||00b

L2 1337

lets hope the communication with the pilots doesnt become like XBox Live Chat in the early 2000s..

I can't imagine the amount of orange Cheeto dust all over everything in the control tower

Kenneth_2003 said:

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I've started to wonder if AI can take over some ATC functions. Primarily "Center" controllers only handle aircraft above 10,000ftv when they've handed off from the departure controller up until they contact approach at their destination.

These are a lot of people that by and large watch airplanes for in a straight line across their screen until they hang them to the controller next to them who again watches them for across their screen.

Have a few people still there that can handle situations beyond the AI capability and have the AI defer at all times to the human override. A transponder codoe could be used to designate the AI handover. For example Mayday and PanPan use a designated transponder code, I think it's 7777.

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It can, and the FAA is working on that. AI means a lot of things in different situations. We already have CPDLC (clearances under certain conditions), including flight plan and altitude changes. working on taxi clearances.

CrawlingNo5 said:

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lets hope the communication with the pilots doesnt become like XBox Live Chat in the early 2000s..

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yelled with high intensity....

"Camper!"

"ok, 1 v 1 ******!"

"teabag!"

"armor lock!"

etc


Learned that from my youngest son. I had to ground him numerous times.

Will they be able to learn they aren't supposed to shoot the planes down?

A bunch of virgins, drinking Mountain Dew, Uber eats, Taco Bell with a smoke detector beeping in the background. Plus, the first time we will be hear, "I can land your Mom" jokes from the tower.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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I've started to wonder if AI can take over some ATC functions. Primarily "Center" controllers only handle aircraft above 10,000ftv when they've handed off from the departure controller up until they contact approach at their destination.

These are a lot of people that by and large watch airplanes for in a straight line across their screen until they hang them to the controller next to them who again watches them for across their screen.

Have a few people still there that can handle situations beyond the AI capability and have the AI defer at all times to the human override. A transponder codoe could be used to designate the AI handover. For example Mayday and PanPan use a designated transponder code, I think it's 7777.

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I was just in a meeting due to our role as the leading agency for the Center for Advanced Aviation Technology. We are basically part of BNATCS...

Multiple operators there stated that there was ZERO intent right now to have AI do any Mission critical or Flight critical functions.

I agree with their position at this time. It is above the acceptable risk level.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GT_Academy

Something similar…

chickencoupe16 said:

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AI can't do a Google search or fact check a short essay without making **** up. Maybe in the future but nowhere near reliable enough now.

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Hallucinations are "real" and do put out erroneous information. There is NO WAY it should be used for flight-critical information at this time.

zephyr88 said:

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But can they pass the drug test?

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2L of mountain dew will flush it out and they can piss clean