Air Traffic Controller Jobs Pay What?
One would think that air traffic controller jobs at Logan, are one of THE most important jobs on the food chain of air travel. If you want to rank the order of importance of the people that keep these massive multi-million dollar computers with wings in the air, where would you start? What is the order of importance? Well, let’s start with:
- The manufacturer (If they don’t get it right, what’s the point?)
- The pilot (This position MUST be right up there next to “the manufacturer,” right?)
- Air Traffic Controller (Are these people the traffic cops of the air?)
- TSA Security/Airport Police
Of course, there are many, many important jobs in airline travel that are designed to keep us safe. But if you agree that these four jobs are very important at keeping flyers safe, the next obvious question is, what do these jobs pay?
What Do Air Travel Jobs Pay?
Let’s start with an aircraft engineer. According to Glassdoor.com:
The estimated total pay for a Aircraft Engineer is $162,846 per year in the United States area, with an average salary of $124,143 per year.
What about a pilot’s salary? According to Epicflightacademy.com:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the median U.S. pilot salary at $211,790 in 2022. This means 50% of pilots earn more than this, and 50% earn less. However, there are pilots working for major airlines making more than $700,000 per year. Many factors impact airline pilot salaries.
How much does a TSA Security Officer make? According to indeed.com, the high end salary of a TSA Officer can be around $76,000 a year. The average salary pays $48,457 a year.
Air Traffic Controller Jobs Pay What?
Finally, we get to the last of the top four most important jobs for safe air travel, according to this post, the air traffic controller.
You’d better fasten your selt belt and put your seat in it’s upright position. The FAA is looking for air traffic controllers. But to me, the pay structure doesn’t match the salaries of the other important jobs mentioned above. Air traffic controller jobs don’t pay nearly enough at 35,000 A year.
According to Boston 25, the FAA is hiring:
“The safety of the U.S. Aviation system is due in large part to our skilled and dedicated air traffic controllers, so hiring and training new controllers is a major priority,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in the news release announcing the hiring blitz. “We are encouraging anyone interested in a new challenge and rewarding safety career to explore this opportunity.”
But there are a few hoops to jump through to be considered. A successful applicant must be:
- A U.S. citizen.
- Able to speak English clearly.
- Younger than 31 years old by application closing date (but there are limited exceptions).
- Able to pass a medical exam, security investigation and FAA air traffic pre-employment test.
- Willing to work anywhere in the U.S.
The salary range is between $35,947 and $37,145 during training. If the applicant passes training and continues through the training process, it will be increased to $45,782.
The salary, seeing it’s importance, seems low to me. But, an air traffic controller job, is still a job. The FAA has more than 13,000 air traffic controllers and is looking to hire 1,800 this year and another 2,000 in 2025, the agency said.
For more information and to apply, visit USA Jobs.