Getting into the profession

[zzzz]

Sorry if this is going over old ground, but a part from NATS, Eurocontrol, self sponsorship & the military, are there other well trodden routes into the wounderful world of ATC?

I don't know the exact facts, but a long while back I heard that, I think it was SERCO, had sponsored an air traffic assistant through his twr & app ratings. Is this common, and is this a possible route into the career?

[niknak]

zzzz


In the UK, other than NATS and self sponsership, the only avenue into civilian ATC is to join a UK airport as an ATC assistant, and after a suitable period of time, (usually a couple of years - but sometimes more), enter the competition for places on their atco training scheme.
Most airports now "grow" their own atco's, as, although the initial costs of doing so are very high, modern selection tests tend to be very good indicator of who will pass or fail a course, and employing experienced atco's when you need one quickly can be a time consuming and expensive process.

The majority of non NATS UK airports (and SERCo), use Shearwater Aviation Training in Wales, whose college set up is almost identical to the CATC/NATS at Bournmouth, and they have a very high success rate.
There is another ATC training college at Rudloe Manor near Bath, which now has approvals for UK CAA courses, but it's name escapes me.

You can of course do it via the military route, it really depends on whether you're suited to that life style, in my experience the majority of civillian atco's (and, when they come out, most ex mil' atco's who've slogged their balls off to get the CAA ratings) - are not. :p
If you go into the military, as things stand, you've got do the CAA courses when you come out - you may get exemptions for some parts of the courses, but it's still very hard work.

Some ex - Mil' and self sponsership bods do convince SERCo to pay for their training, but these are very rare cases, and don't expect much more than a couple of coffee beans a month in salary until you're fully validated.

I hope I haven't put you off, these are the realities of getting into the profession, that said, I reckon it's the best job you could ever want to do and I'd only swap it for counting the interest on my multi million pound lottery winnings.................... :\

[Barnaby the Bear]

The name of the other college is Rudloe I believe.
If you go the military route, the aptitude tests are far harder than that of the civilian side (personal experience).
I knew people from Newcastle, IOM and East Midlands. They had all joined as Air Traffic Assistants first. They were then put through ATCO training by there employers.

I could be wrong, but to self fund would probably cost around £20k for ADC only rating. Perhaps someone from either college could clarify.
That is alot of money to spend on an intensive course. If you don't have the aptitude.

Good luck. Its a great job :}

[niknak]

around:

£10K for the aerodrome course.

£13K for the approach procedural course.

£17K for the approach radar course.

All exclude VAT and accomodation/subsistance costs.

As things stand, you'll have to do all 3 courses to work at the majority of non NATS units in the UK.