We're hiring!

The FAA reached its goal of hiring 1,800 new air traffic controllers during the just-ended fiscal year 2024, and is now seeking to hire even more. For FY 2025, the FAA is aiming to hire another 2,000 air traffic controllers. To that end, the agency is once again accepting applications for prospective air traffic controllers. Unlike in previous application periods, this time around the window for applying is more than a weekend -- applications are already being taken and will be accepted through November 4, 2024.

 

A comment posted to an earlier post about controller hiring asked about our pay. The job listing on USAJobs lists the starting salary as about $36,000. That is the salary that new hires will receive while they are at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City for initial training. During that time, they will also receive an allowance for housing. After successfully completing the initial training in Oklahoma City, controllers will be assigned to an actual air traffic facility where they will train and, if successful, work as a controller. Once assigned to a facility, the new controller's pay will go to the pay band for that level of facility. I've included a recent, although perhaps not quite current, copy of the air traffic pay scale below.

ATSPP Pay Bands, effective January 14, 2024
- exclusive of locality pay
		Code			Dx	Ex	Fx	Gx	Hx	Ix	Jx	Kx	Lx
		ATC Level			4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Career Level
CPC/TMC/TMS		xH	Maximum		$80,370	$91,221	$100,802	$111,386	$123,084	$136,003	$156,406	$164,614	$172,847
			Minimum		$59,535	$67,572	$74,670	$82,509	$91,173	$100,743	$115,857	$121,934	$128,035
D3		xG	Maximum	75%	$59,535	$67,572	$74,670	$82,509	$91,173	$100,743	$115,857	$121,934	$128,035
			Minimum		$56,099	$62,124	$67,448	$73,329	$79,826	$87,005	$98,336	$102,898	$107,472
D2		xF	Maximum	50%	N/A	N/A	$67,448	$73,329	$79,826	$87,005	$98,336	$102,898	$107,472
			Minimum		N/A	N/A	$60,224	$64,147	$68,477	$73,262	$80,818	$83,860	$86,912
D1		xD	Maximum	25%	N/A	N/A	N/A	$64,147	$68,477	$73,262	$80,818	$83,860	$86,912
			Minimum		N/A	N/A	N/A	$54,964	$57,131	$59,525	$63,303	$64,820	$66,346
AG		xC			$45,782	$45,782	$45,782	$45,782	$45,782	$45,782	$45,782	$45,782	$45,782
		Note:  Pay rates for FAA employees, including locality pay, are capped by law at $221,900 — the rate for level II of the Executive Schedule (P.L. 104-264 paragraph 40122 c).

 

Each air traffic facility is rated based upon the volume of traffic worked by that facility. As an example, my first facility was in Monroe, Louisiana, which is a level 5 facility. Looking at the chart, we can see that a new controller trainee at MLU will receive a salary of $45,782. After completing 75% of their training at MLU, their salary will go up to $62,124. Once fully certified, their salary will rise to $67,572. In successive years, they will receive annual step increases and cost of living raises, with an ultimate cap of $91,221. As convoluted as that sounds, it's not that simple, but that will do for now. There are a couple of missing pieces of information: What level a given facility holds, and what is the applicable locality pay for that area. For those details, I refer you to these sources:

ATC facility levels courtesy of 123atc.com

Locality areas courtesy of FederalPay.org 

I could go on and on, but most of what I'd be saying would be repeats of the official information. So instead, here are the links:

FAA Be ATC info page 

USAJobs Application

 

Important things to consider:

• Your first facility assignment will be determined by the needs of the FAA. You might have a chance to offer input, but ultimately you'll get sent where you're needed. That move will be at your own expense. The FAA has facilities in all 50 states, as well as locations in American territories such as Guam and Puerto Rico.
• There is no guarantee that you'll make it as an air traffic controller. There are many training phases, each of which is pass/fail. That's part of the reason that the agency is hiring several thousand new controllers. I don't know what the exact numbers are, but the historic washout rate is around 50%; some don't make it through the FAA Academy, and others make it there only to washout at their assigned facility.
• This can be a grueling career. The training is long, difficult, and often frustrating. The responsibility is real, and it can be stressful. We work nights. We work weekends. We work holidays. I've got thirty years in, and I've worked over two dozen Christmas Days. There's a reason that we have have early retirement as compared to most public sector employees.
• Controllers have mandatory retirement at age 56. There can be exceptions made, but this is a young person's job. That doesn't mean that you have to leave the FAA after your 56th birthday; there are plenty of controllers who have transitioned to administrative, training, and management positions. 
  

It's not all bad news though:

• FAA air traffic controllers are employed by the US government, which is traditionally a stable employer. 
• Federal workers have benefits, such as a wide choice of health insurance options. Vision and dental plans are also offered. Long-term care insurance and disability insurance are available as well.
• While controllers do have to work nights, weekends, and holidays, we do also get paid extra for doing so.
• New controllers earn 13 days of paid vacation per year in their first three years of employment, after which we receive 20 days per year. After 15 years of service, we earn 26 days per year. Vacation time (aka Annual Leave) can be saved; up to a limit of 30 days' leave can be carried over from one year to the next. Anything beyond that is considered Use or Lose. We also receive 13 days of paid sick leave each year, which has no restrictions on saving from one year to another.
  
• As mentioned, FAA controllers have mandatory retirement at age 56. The Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) consists of a three-part retirement: A pension, which is calculated based upon your highest three years salary and your years of service; Social Security; and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is the government employees' version of a 401K plan. Your contributions to TSP are matched by the government up to the first 5% of your salary.
   

 

 

MSC Construction

In recent posts I've talked about runways and taxiways, but that's not the only construction that's taking place at LAX right now. In the opening photo, looking over the roof of the TBIT, you can see an empty space just in front of the American maintenance hangar. That is the site of the Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) southern extension, or just the MSC South. This project will add an additional eight (8) narrowbody gates to the MSC. What's particularly interesting about this project is that concurrently with the site preparation seen above, the building itself is being constructed at a different site on the northwest corner of the airport. The plan is to move the building in prefab sections to the final location in October, a process that will require shutting down the entire north complex on overnight shifts.

The planned layout of the MSC South, as shown in this rendition that I borrowed from LAWA's website. Here you can see the future eight gates, with room for another one or possibly two gates once the American maintenance hangar goes away.

The site of building construction, looking over the roof of the north end of the TBIT and the RY24 complex. That's an AeroMexico B787 Dreamliner lifting off from RY24L.

This aerial shot that I borrowed from LAWA's website shows the site where the building is being constructed in the upper left, while the actual MSC South location is in the center.

Another view of the MSC South under construction. In the foreground, a SkyWest (flying as Delta Connection) E175 follows a Delta A321neo on Taxiway E

LAWA Press Release

LAWA MSC South 

Yet another construction update

 

I still owe you another construction post, but that is yet to come. Today's post is about where we are right now as September ends and October begins. 

At this point, while we have all four runways back in operation, there is still construction happening that impairs the movement of aircraft. As you can see in the opening diagram, a critical portion of Taxiway E is closed at the east end of the north complex. This closure is necessary to allow completion of the final portion of the new Taxiway S -- the intersection of Taxiway S and Taxiway E. This section of Taxiway E, which is between the intersections of D-8 and D-10, is the primary route for departing aircraft to get to Runway 24 Left. Losing the use of Taxiway E creates a choke point on Taxiway D adjacent to Terminals 2 and 3. While not insurmountable, there are extra complications to the operations in and out of all the north side terminals as well as routing departures to the runway:

• Now that Runway 24 Left is open, A380s are once again coming to the north side for departure. However, neither the A380 nor the B747-8 can use Taxiway D in this area. To get around the closure, these types must enter Ry24L at Taxiway U and taxi east on the runway until they exit at Taxiway R or Taxiway E-7, whereupon they continue via Taxiway E to the end of the runway. Of course, nobody else can land or depart Ry24L while this is happening. This also requires some care on the part of the Ground Controller, as there is very little space on Taxiway E east of Taxiway R, and the A380 or B747-8 will need room on Taxiway E in order to taxi clear of the runway. There is often a good bit of planning and coordination required between the Ground and Tower controllers to make this happen; in many cases the A380 or B747-8 waits while other aircraft go, but at some point the Ground controller may have to hold other aircraft back while the A380/B748 moves.
• As I mentioned, the closed portion of Taxiway E forces all traffic transiting the area to use Taxiway D. Besides the restrictions for A380s and B747-8s, another challenge is that this taxiway is also the space into which aircraft on the gates at the ends of Terminals 2 and 3 have to push. These eight gates are all used by Delta Airlines and occasionally by WestJet. Pushing an aircraft from one of these gates blocks the taxiway until the aircraft is ready to taxi, which is nominally around five minutes or so if there are no snags. Ground controllers are mitigating this somewhat by having the aircraft push over to Terminal One or the TBIT, or around the corner into the adjacent D-9 or D-8 alley. Quite often this also involves holding aircraft on their gate until there is a break in the line of taxiing aircraft, by which time there may be several aircraft that all get pushed at the same time into non-conflicting positions.
• In conjunction with holding aircraft on their gates until there is a convenient time and spot to push them, there is also the consideration that inbound aircraft need to be able to get right onto their gate, as there is no room for them to sit adjacent to their gate if the gate or ground crew are not ready. Thus many of the ground controllers will have inbound aircraft hold away from the terminal area until the pilots have received verification that there is a crew at the gate and it is ready for their arrival.

Last I heard, this closure will run through sometime in November. It would be really nice if we could have the taxiway back before the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, as well as before we have weather that requires us to go East traffic. So far the weather's been cooperating, and I hear LAWA is pleased with the progress that this contractor has been making, so here's hoping!

This shot shows the closed portion of Taxiway E. The Southwest B737 MAX 8 is on RY24L

A wider view of the closure to give some context, with Terminal 2 and the adjacent alleys marked

Here we see an Emirates A380 turning onto RY24L from Taxiway U in order to back-taxi up the runway to get around the construction constriction, while a British Airways A380 is rolling out on Runway 24R

The same Emirates A380 passing the intersection of future Taxiway S

 

Here's a Korean A380 performing the same maneuver

Now past the construction zone, the Korean A380 exits the runway at Taxiway R and rejoins Taxiway E to continue to the end of the runway. The Volaris Airbus has been waiting at the end of the runway, while the WestJet B737 has been waiting on Taxiway D so that there would be room for the A380 to exit onto Taxiway E

A Philippines A330-300 about to touch down on RY24R. We've been seeing Philippines A330s this summer as well as their B777s; they previously had been bringing A350s, but these have been cut as Philippines struggles with finances. This photo is actually more recent than the one that follows; in this shot you can see some of the new concrete for Taxiway E

This year, Hawaiian has started receiving their new 300-seat B787 Dreamliners. For a size comparison, the smaller aircraft is a 76-seat Embraer E-175 operated by SkyWest as Delta Connection. The Embraers have largely replaced the CRJs in the regional fleets at LAX. This photo is early in the Taxiway E closure, as most of the old concrete is still in place.