Occupation
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers separate and sequence aircraft in the air and on the ground, issuing instructions by radio from a tower or a radar centre. The work requires holding a changing traffic picture in mind and making irreversible decisions quickly under standard phraseology. Selection, training, medical standards, and licensing are strict and are set by the national aviation authority.
Also known as: Air traffic control officer · Tower controller · Area controller · Approach controller
Occupation content
Part of Supply chain, transport and logistics
What the work involves
- Monitor radar, flight data, and ground movements within an assigned sector or airfield.
- Issue clearances, headings, levels, and speeds to maintain separation.
- Sequence arrivals and departures against runway capacity and weather.
- Coordinate handovers with adjacent sectors, towers, and centres.
- Manage emergencies, weather diversions, and equipment failures using published procedures.
- Log occurrences and take mandated rest breaks within the roster.
How people commonly enter
- Selection into a national air navigation service provider's controller training programme, which includes aptitude testing, medical assessment, and rated on-the-job training.
- A college or university air traffic control programme recognised by the aviation authority.
- Transfer from a military air traffic control background into civil controlling with conversion training.
Typical training: Varies by employer or jurisdiction
Licensing: Regulated in most jurisdictions — confirm the current requirement with the regulator in your province, state, or country.
Pathways: Common in public service
Typical work context
Shift work · High responsibility · Team based · Fast paced · Desk based
Related interests
Conventional (organizing) · Investigative (analytical) · Realistic (hands-on)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Supply chain, transport and logistics.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- US BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Air Traffic Controllers · United States
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- O*NET OnLine — occupation quick search: air traffic controllers · International
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- UK National Careers Service — Explore careers · United Kingdom
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Supply chain, transport and logistics in Canada, not a figure for Air traffic controller. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Supply chain, transport and logistics family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Supply chain, transport and logistics: education pathways
Some roles in Supply chain, transport and logistics may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Supply chain, transport and logistics: licensing
Find jobs
These are live, user-controlled searches on each source's own site for “ Air traffic controller”. Novus Learn does not fetch, store, or rank these results, and job availability never changes your exploration match score.
- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
- Search EURES · European Union / EEA
- Search Indeed · International (choose location on Indeed)