ATC as a way of paying for lessons

[tampabay]

Would any of the professional pilots recommend joining ATC as a way of getting experience and also as a way of paying for lessons? I am 16 from the UK and i am already qualified for NATS so when i am 18 ( the eligible age to apply ) i will hopefully have the Scottish equivalent of 6 or 7 A-levels. Would you recommend trying for sponsorship ( are my qualifications good enough? ) or trying to get the experience from ATC and funding my own training?

[WX Man]

As someone who has been there and done that (ATC training), I am certainly in a position to comment...

First of all, DON'T underestimate ATC training. It's stressful, difficult, the standards are VERY high and unless you're 100% committed, you WILL fail the training (in fact, you can be 150% committed, and still fail. I know). The failure rate is about 50-60% (although with some courses the failure rate is likely to run at about 60-70% :* for reasons beyond the scope of this discussion).

The money will certainly be enough to fund a CPL/IR. Especially if you're with Eurocontrol. After 5 years in the job, you'd probably be *taking home* £50,000 a year (that's a UK equivalent salary of, what, £90,000 a year?). With NATS, it would take you slightly longer to save up.

If you go into ATC training with the intention of leaving after a certain period of time to fly, you probably won't get the job. If you have got the job, you probably won't hold onto the job. If flying's what you want to do, do that!

[dexter256]

Want to commit suicide? Become an ATCO, pharmacist or translator at the Hague. Private funding for a decent ATCO position in the UK runs in the region of what, $100,000?

[tampabay]

In responce to WX MAN, i in no way see ATC as a "not important" and "not hard to get into" occupation. I would be very happy and proud to be a controller and would not take the responsibility lightly. Perhaps my wording of the title may have given you the wrong impression. I also like the fact that you can make a shortlist of 3 airports you would like to control at and they tell you which one they would prefer you to be at ( or so i've heard ). So i would like the opportunity to work elsewhere in the UK ( im from Glasgow ) and would like to live in England for a while( Birmingham perhaps ). So believe me i am in NO WAY lessening the job done by air traffic controllers and the difficulty in just becoming one.

[Gonzo]

Tampabay,

I guess ATC would give you valuable experience while saving up for an ATPL or whatever. Many ATCOs have PPLs, quite a few have CPLs etc.

Your academic qualification would be enough, but bear in mind that the selection process for NATS seems to be taking more than one year at the moment, and as has been mentioned, it's hard work to get on the course, and once you're there you need to work even harder.

Not too sure about "I also like the fact that you can make a shortlist of 3 airports you would like to control at and they tell you which one they would prefer you to be at (or so i've heard)."

That's if you get picked to go on the Aerodrome/Approach course rather than the Area course, which is infinitely more likely. And even if you do get Aerodrome/Approach, you may well get the chance to put your top three 'wish list', but in the end they send you where they want you to go. From my course only two of us got our first choice. They tell you when you apply you're a 'mobile grade', and you certainly should be prepared to work anywhere from the south coast to Aberdeen. Some people have started with NATS really wanting and even expecting to work at a certain unit, and then the toys come out of the pram when they don't get what they want.

Not wishing to be down, it really is the best job in the world, and if that's what you want to do, then I wish you luck, but to succeed at the ATC training, you need to want to be an ATCO.

Gonzo.

PS Why on Earth do you want to live in Birmingham? :oh: :D

[LiamMc]

LOL I know :ouch: