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"Why do air traffic controllers have to be under 31 years old? The reasoning behind this is that FAA safety regulations require controllers to stop working traf

by xcv123 3y ago

"Why do air traffic controllers have to be under 31 years old? The reasoning behind this is that FAA safety regulations require controllers to stop working traffic at age 56, and to receive a federal pension, you need to have worked at least 25 years. By making the maximum starting age cutoff 30, all new hire controllers have the potential to do their 25 years and earn a pension prior to reaching retirement age. Pro Tip: The one publicly stated exception to the 30-year starting age cut off is for former military air traffic controllers. These candidates may apply even if they are older than 30."

shiroiushi 3y ago
>The one publicly stated exception to the 30-year starting age cut off is for former military air traffic controllers. This makes me wonder: what portion of America's ATCs are former military ATCs? I'm guessing it's fairly substantial, and without this convenient source of recruits (because someone who spent time in the military doing ATC now has a very convenient pipeline into a civilian job), the FAA might be forced into making changes. It's similar for pilots: a lot of them are former military pilots, so they got all their training at government expense, and the industries that hire them don't have to pay for that. Pilots without a military (or police) background generally have to pay for their own training, which is extremely expensive, so not that many people do it, because these jobs don't pay that well to begin with. Without the military giving free training to all these people, a lot of industries in America wouldn't have such a cheap source of readily-trained labor and things would look very different.
- tcmart14 2y ago
  I don't know how many actually did it. But a lot of the ATC Navy I knew planned that after their service they would just go civilian side. So I imagine it is substantial. Although, there is no telling, at least anecdotally from my experience how many actually follow through, or did 10 years of ATC in the Navy and decided to say 'screw that.'

by xcv123 3y ago

shiroiushi 3y ago

>The one publicly stated exception to the 30-year starting age cut off is for former military air traffic controllers. This makes me wonder: what portion of America's ATCs are former military ATCs? I'm guessing it's fairly substantial, and without this convenient source of recruits (because someone who spent time in the military doing ATC now has a very convenient pipeline into a civilian job), the FAA might be forced into making changes. It's similar for pilots: a lot of them are former military pilots, so they got all their training at government expense, and the industries that hire them don't have to pay for that. Pilots without a military (or police) background generally have to pay for their own training, which is extremely expensive, so not that many people do it, because these jobs don't pay that well to begin with. Without the military giving free training to all these people, a lot of industries in America wouldn't have such a cheap source of readily-trained labor and things would look very different.

tcmart14 2y ago
I don't know how many actually did it. But a lot of the ATC Navy I knew planned that after their service they would just go civilian side. So I imagine it is substantial. Although, there is no telling, at least anecdotally from my experience how many actually follow through, or did 10 years of ATC in the Navy and decided to say 'screw that.'