You must be hired into the FAA prior to age 31. Taking into consideration that it can sometimes take 1 to 3 years to be hired you should be considering this occupation by age 27 or so. If you are over 31 years of age the FAA will not hire you as an Air Traffic Control Specialist. The minimum requirement is a High School diploma and some general work experience. You do not need to be a pilot or have extensive aviation knowledge.

The FAA provides a telephone number (ATC specialist job information hotline) for general information on Air Traffic Control hiring. The phone number is 310-725-7858.  The FAA has been under a hiring freeze since February 1992. It is still a good idea to call this number and listen to the recording once and then call it once every three months for updates.

If you called the above number you might now be asking "what is the REAL WORLD situation for becoming an Air Traffic Controller with the FAA?" In the past 7 years only five types of individuals have been hired as Air Traffic Control Specialists:

a)  PATCO Controllers - these are members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization that were fired by President Reagan in the 1981 controller’s strike. Per President Clinton fired PATCO controllers are now eligible to be rehired and we have seen PATCO controllers reentering the work force.

b) DOD controllers - these are military controllers or civilian controllers working at military facilities.

c) REHIRED Controllers - a "rehire" is a controller who use to work with the FAA, then spent time away from the agency (they left FAA employment) and now they are returning i.e. "rehired."

d) CTI’s - CTI stands for Collegiate Training Initiative, these are controllers that have attended one of the 13 FAA approved colleges that have an ATC education program (see top ten item number five).

e) CONTRACT Controllers - these are controllers that have worked with one of the several contract ATC companies that provide privatized ATC services at low level activity Air Traffic Control Towers. They may or may not be PATCO or CTI.

How do I get hired if I don’t fit into any of the above categories? You have two options:

OPTION A - Wait until the FAA once again offers the civil service written examination for the   position of Air Traffic Controller (they have not done this in nearly 6 years).

OPTION B - Become a CTI by attending and graduating from one of the 13 FAA approved colleges that offer an ATC education program
(see number 5).

Side note: in order for you to graduate one of the requirements MAY be to obtain a private pilot certificate while in the program. The latest information is that Beaver County Community College and the University of North Dakota are the only schools requiring this. Regardless, you need to clarify this issue before enrollment and if this is indeed a requirement at the school of your choice and you are not interested in becoming a private pilot you should consider other schools or other career options.

CTI program - The CTI program is a college program that prepares you to enter the career field of Air Traffic Control. To become more familiar with this program you should do three things:

a) Read article  basic information on ATC colleges

b) Read  PRIVATE PILOT MAGAZINE 10/97 "SO YOU WANT TO BE IN CONTROL", by Keith Connes

c) If after reading these two articles you are interested in going to school in the West contact Wayne Lutz at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, CA (Los Angeles). He is the chairperson for the aviation department at Mt. SAC. and he will gladly mail you an information package that will provide you with further information on their ATC education program. They also offer a professional pilot program. Call him at 909-594-561, this is the main number to the college, ask for extension 4774 (this is his office). If he is not in leave your information on his voice mail as instructed on the outgoing message. Your package will arrive one week later. You may also e mail him at wlutz@mtsac.edu, their web sight will answer many of your questions:  http://ww.mtsac.edu/instruction/aeronautics    You can read the article  Mt. SAC gets FAA approval for additional information. If because of your geographic location you are interested in one of the other colleges in the before mentioned articles you should contact each college directly for more information.

In condensed summary, the CTI program involves 3 two-year colleges and 10 four-year universities. All but three community colleges utilize 4-year programs to incorporate the CTI into their degrees. The community colleges are Miami-Dade, Beaver County, and Mt SAC. The other 10 do not offer 2-degrees (there may be a few exceptions. The University of North Dakota is an example. They offer a B.S. in Air Traffic Control which is a 4-year program. Some schools may offer both. For example the University of Alaska offers the CTI in both A.S. and BS formats, however, it is very rare for 4-year schools to have AS degree programs. Each prospective student should verify if the FAA requires a complete degree with CTI completion.

If you are interested in communicating with someone who is currently in the C.T.I. program at Beaver College you can e mail Scott Deeter at: deetman@bellatlantic.net. Here is list of the things he likes about Beaver  College: TOP THINGS ABOUT BEAVER COLLEGE