Air Traffic Controller
Job Summary
Responsible for directing planes and helicopters in the air to ensure their safety. Keeps planes a safe distance apart, advises on landing, alerts planes to potential problems.
Primary Responsibilities
- Coordinate the movement of air traffic to ensure that planes stay safe distances apart.
- Coordinate the arrival and departure of airplanes.
- Issue landing and takeoff instructions to pilots.
- Monitor and direct the movement of aircraft, using radar equipment.
- Authorize flight path changes.
- Provide weather updates to pilots.
- Alert airport response staff in the event of an aircraft emergency.
- Direct planes efficiently to minimize delays.
- Manage the flow of airplanes in and out of the airport, guide pilots during takeoff and landing, and monitor airplanes as they travel through the skies.
- Manage multiple airplanes.
- Check flight plans, give pilots clearance for takeoff or landing, and direct the movement of planes on the runways and other parts of the airport.
- Sequence the arrival and departure of airplanes, guide pilots during takeoff and landing, and use radar equipment to monitor flight paths.
- Provide pilots with information on weather conditions.
- Monitor airplanes once they leave an airport’s airspace.
- Look for traffic patterns that could create bottlenecks in the system.
- Keep traffic levels manageable for the airport and for en route controllers.
- Move all aircraft safely and efficiently through their assigned sector of airspace.
- Communicate with the pilots of aircraft using a push-to-talk radiotelephony system.
- Control aircraft within the immediate vicinity of the airport and use visual observation from the airport tower.
