Careers in digital towers and air traffic control
Digital towers are still new. The people who run, fix, build and test them over the next 20 years are in school or starting work right now. Here are the jobs, and the real first steps.
The jobs
Air traffic controller
You keep aircraft apart and tell pilots where to go. In a digital tower the job is the same. You just look at screens built from cameras instead of out a window.
In the US you apply to the FAA. Its hiring page says you must be a US citizen, under 31 when you apply, and speak English clearly. You pass a 3.5 hour aptitude test (the ATSA), then train at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.
Technician
Someone has to keep the cameras, radios, radar, networks and backup power running. If the video stops, the tower stops.
The FAA calls this job Airway Transportation Systems Specialist. They maintain radar, communications, navigation aids and runway lights, and also train at the FAA Academy.
Engineer or coder
Digital towers are video, networks and software. Engineers design camera layouts, cut video delay and build the displays. Coders write the software that labels aircraft and stitches the views.
Most of this work happens at the companies that build the systems. See who they are on the vendors page.
Researcher and tester
Before a system handles real traffic, people test it in simulators and at real airports, and study how controllers use it.
In the US, the FAA tests designs at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in New Jersey.
Airport and planning
Airports decide whether to buy a digital tower, how to pay for it and how it fits their plans.
In the US, FAA guidance (PGL 26-06) explains when airport grant money can be used for a digital tower.
Rules and safety
Regulators and standards groups write the rules a system must meet and check the safety case.
See the bodies involved, from the FAA and EASA to EUROCAE and ICAO.
Start now
Students
The FAA lists internships, fellowships and a Gateways program for students.
Outside the US
NATS runs the London City remote tower. EUROCONTROL works on air traffic across Europe.
Try this first
- Pick an airport on the world map and read its sources.
- Learn the words you will see.
- Look at the future state for your own country and ask what it would take.
- Watch the news for new go-lives and approvals.