Air Traffic Radio

The distant planes traveling thousands of feet above the earth rely upon your skills and constant scanning of the screens to insure their safe passage over the fields of wheat and urban skyscrapers beneath their path. Time ticks on and you begin to feel the fatigue, so you roll up your sleeves and take a sip of some hot fresh coffee, readying your mind to maintain its keen eye upon every movement and mixed message that comes crackling through the radio. Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills. Controllers apply separation rules to keep aircraft apart from each other in their area of responsibility and move all aircraft safely and efficiently through their assigned sector of airspace. Because controllers have an incredibly large responsibility while on duty, the ATC profession is regarded around the world as one of the most difficult jobs today, and can be notoriously stressful depending on many variables (equipment, configurations, weather, traffic volume, human factors, etc.). Having said this, many controllers would cite high salary and their love of aviation and an early retirement as highly beneficial. Although the media in the United States frequently refers to them as air controllers, or flight controllers, most air traffic professionals use the term air traffic controllers.