Originally Posted by
sparkyt
There is also a route to being an ATCO through the military, either RAF or RN.
The problem with being an ATCO in the military is that you can spend 20 years controlling like I did (including in the London TMA) but the moment you leave the military you are no more qualified to be an ATCO than a shelf stacker in Tesco.
Like a shelf stacker in Tesco you will need to obtain your CAA licences and do the relevant courses to obtain them. When I left the RAF in 2011 that came in at around 45k for Aerodrome, Approach and Approach procedural with no guarantee of a job after shelling out that kind of money.