The Core Skills Required To Be An Air Traffic Controller

Air Traffic Control (ATC) is considered one of the most challenging professions in the world. ATC in general is about taking quick and right decisions with the prime motive to ensure safety by keeping aircraft well separated. Although Air Traffic Controllers are not Superhuman yet quick-decision making, good communication skills, stress resistance, multi-tasking ability, pressure-handling, good memory, and spatial awareness are some of the core skills that every ATC officer must possess.

core skills of an atc

The Core Skills Required To Be An Air Traffic Controller

This article focuses on the core skills required to be an Air Traffic Controller not only in India but also anywhere in the world.

1. Quick Decision-Making Capability

ATCOs deal with flying machines that are damn fast, so they need to take effective and assertive decisions in the blink of an eye. But remember that quick decisions have to be correct as well otherwise it will defeat the purpose of provision of safety.

How To Qualify AAI ATC Exam in Single Attempt?

2. Stress Resistance

Sometimes, depending on various factors such as bad weather, emergency situations, equipment failure, a sudden increase in traffic volume, improper coordination, etc., Air Traffic Control (ATC) can be notoriously stressful. So to be the guardian of the skies, an ATCO (Air Traffic Control Officer) needs to handle such stress and pressure with ease and calm. An Air Traffic Controller has to be adaptable to the dynamic situations that arise on day to day basis at the work.

3. Spatial Awareness

It is a well-known fact that Air Traffic Control or rather Air Traffic Management is a dynamic activity/job in which the information keeps changing with the passage of time and accordingly ‘right’ decisions are to be taken in a timely manner to ensure the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic.

4. Visualization

Visualization can be understood as the ability to translate the available information/material into a visual representation of what is currently occurring. ATCOs have the ability to visualize the current traffic situation, the way this situation is likely to change, and even the actions they should take to ensure the safety of aircraft.

5. Prioritization

 An ATCO has so many tasks to perform at any point in time but it is the ability to prioritize things that makes ATCOs identify tasks that are most critical and require immediate attention. This ability ensures that ATCO doesn’t run out of time or ideas in a critical or high-traffic situation.

6. Multi-tasking Capability

It is a fact that we, the humans are finite beings that cannot attend to all things at once but the same is not applicable to an ATCO who needs to do so many tasks at the same time like while giving a departure clearance an ATCO might be managing and writing on flight movement strips, coordinating with other ATC units and simultaneously planning for the next departure or arrival.

7. Flexibility

Although there are rules and more rules for Air Traffic Control and ATCOs need to follow and apply these rules yet they need to be flexible whenever the situation demands it, Flexibility can be considered as an innate quality of an Air Traffic Controller.

8. Communication Skills

As communication is a vital part of ATC, the Controllers are required to have excellent communication skills. They shall be able to use concise and precise phrases while communicating as it will save precious time and avoid confusion or misunderstanding which might end up in a disaster. Here, I would like to include that ATC must be proficient in English as well because it is the default language of the aviation world.

9. Excellent Memory

In my opinion, an ATCO needs to have excellent intermediate-term memory. Usually, ATC working situations require ATCOs to remember aircraft movements or related pertinent information over a period of almost 8 to 10 minutes.

10. Team Player

Air Traffic Control is a team game that can only be won with immense coordination with various other units such as Airlines, Pilots, Air Force, Airport operators, and other ATC Units. So an ATCO needs to work positively with every unit in question to get the job done the best possible way.

11. Numerically Proficient

ATCOs need to deal with a lot of numbers like Flight levels, different times for landing and take-off as it depends on the Aircraft, to calculate aircraft crossing timings. So ATCOs are expected to be quick with numeric computations and mathematics.

12. Medical and Mental Requirements

The nature of the ATC job demands controllers to maintain some of the strictest medical and mental requirements. At the same time, ATCOs need to have excellent speaking and hearing skills as it is what they are required to do during their entire career. (In India, for testing the speaking skills, AAI exclusively conducts a voice test to ensure that no candidate with a stammering problem gets selected).

I hope you enjoyed my article!!

P.S.

For those who want to be a part of this unique profession, there is no need to get disappointed even if you don’t possess these skills as most of these can be learned at civil aviation training institutes. Just prepare well and be ready to master the airspace of the country. I culminate my article with these motivational lines by my favorite author, Paulo Coelho:

“Before reaching that stage, however, you must practice and repeat. And if that’s not enough, you must practice and repeat some more”

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16 thoughts on “The Core Skills Required To Be An Air Traffic Controller”

  1. sir,
    first of all i would like to thank you for this philanthropic act of imparting useful information regarding interview guidance provided for ATC .it really helped me a lot.and hence my interview went very well.thanx once again.
    i have few questions…please help me for this.

    1. is the bond amount is of Rs 5 lakh/- for 3 years ,if yes can u tell me that in case some one breaks the bond even at 2 year 11 month will he/she have to pay the whole amount or does this amount reduces as the bond period passes?

    2. is the job really stressful means if some one is eagerly looking for UPSC preparation..will he get any time during his job or not.

    3. can someone get the option of delayed joining in case he gets selected and if yes then by how many months.

    4. what is the chance of someone getting option of leave without pay for at least a month or two in the early phase of his job.

    5. one of my friend already recruited suggested me that that i can get extension in joining of as much time i need once i complete the first phase of training,is this true?

    6.what are the chances of getting only day shift or only night shift.i mean how u manage your life in such repeated cycle of five days without any scheduled leaves.how is your social life affected by this.the thing which bothers me the most is the 3rd day shift of 12 hours as i have read somewhere on your site.

    7.how easy is it to get NOC in case someone wants to attend some other interview or exam.

    8.how eay is it to get posted in home town.?

    eagerly waiting for your valuable suggestion regarding each point.

    thank you in advance.

      1. thank u for ur consideration.
        eagerly waiting for your valuable suggestion regarding each point.
        yes sure,i will post my experience….it can take a day or two to recall all questions as my interview as on first day of phase-1.

      2. ok sir,
        eagerly waiting for your valuable suggestion regarding each point.
        and yes i have already shared my experience as you suggested me .
        thank you.

    1. sudhir sheoran

      1. Bond amount is fixed irrespective of tenure (less than 3 years).
      2. It depends on which airport you get posted at. Delhi and Mumbai has considerable amount of stress. Preparation time is there if you are posted at any of the metro airports.
      3. Delayed joining is not allowed as per the rules. If you don’t join then they will issue second list for other candidates.
      4. Chances are almost nill. Especially in training you wont get leaves unless exceptional circumstances.
      5. No idea.
      6. In such a pattern you get a lot of time….much more then general shift people. In a month you are going to office on just 12 days and 6 nights so you have 18days and 24 nights to spend at home. What else do you expect.
      7. NOc can be taken after 3 years of completion otherwise it is difficult if you are in bond period.
      8. Home town posting depends on various factors.

        1. i also have few questions regarding training.
          1.what is the duration of initial phase of training?
          2.does this 5 day cycle applies to initial training also or it is taken on regular weekly basis with saturday/sunday off?
          3.if yes on weekly basis ,then what is the duration(hours per day) on daily basis?
          4. what parameter decides the initial posting station of candidate after completion of initial phase of training?

          thank you.

          1. sudhir sheoran

            1. 23 weeks, but can vary.
            2. regular 5 days a week
            3. general office hours
            4. Only HR Directorate knows it.

  2. sir ,
    1.can you also tell me that whether the procedure of bond transfer from AAI to OTHER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS ,applicable here or not.
    2.can my bond be transferred from AAI-atc to Senior Section Engineer-railways (not under UPSC),if needed?
    3.what is the procedure for it.?
    4.i have also heard that this process of bond transfer is ALWAYS applicable from any PSU to any UPSC service,is it true.
    PLEASE throw some light on this.

        1. but what about transfer of bond if someone wants it within the same organisation(A.A.I) from ATC to CNS.is there any option in this regard.

  3. Bro, your info is Awesome!
    But, could you say a way to increase a the our skills through any way?
    Like, courses for it, or maybe any lessons on it?
    Or, just to increases the resume of the to get the selected faster!

  4. This is the perfect blog for anyone who wants to know about air traffic controllers skills this topic.The article is nice and it’s pleasant to read.I have known very important things over here.Thank you so much for this post.

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