How many of us are there?

[WhatMeanPullUp]

Myself and a couple of colleagues were chatting over a few beers the other day about things like beer prices, overpaid footballers, sex and why we STILL do not get paid enough money and asked how many Air Traffic Controllers there are in the World. Any ideas? we thought about 30-40,000 then went off to shoot some pool and ogle the barmaid. ;)

[arearadar]

Well, I don`t know of course but, I am retired now. Does that count ?
My UK/ATCO licence number was 1982.

Dave

[BrATCO]

Around controllers 2700 in France in 2008.

Expected : around 2000 in 2017.

9436 in Europe, according to the ACE report.
http://www.eurocontrol.int/prc/gallery/content/public/Docs/ace2008/ACE_2008_Benchmarking_Report.pdf

[Daermon ATC]

Spain: 2400

[WhatMeanPullUp]

Canada is about 1900 and the UK must be around 1000 ish unless someone can advise further, if you are retired then no, not in the count but respect to you for surviving to retirement!! Looks like 30-40.000 might be a low number.....

[Roffa]

According to the current annual report NATS has 2003 controllers. Non-state will add to that total for UK civil numbers.

According to US government stats available online, there were 26,200 controllers employed there in 2008.

Air Traffic Controllers (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos108.htm)

[Blockla]

ifatca.org

IFATCA is the worldwide organisation representing more than fifty thousand air traffic controllers in 137 countries.
The goals of the Federation are:

To promote safety, efficiency, and regularity in international air navigation.
To assist and advise in the development of safe and orderly systems of air traffic control and new procedures and facilities.
To promote and uphold a high standard of knowledge and professional efficiency among air traffic controllers.
To closely cooperate with international and national aviation authorities and institutions concerned with air navigation.
To sponsor and support the passage of legislation and regulations which will increase and protect the safety of air navigation.
To strive for a world-wide federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations.

[Neptune262]

I believe it is around 75,000 globally

[Bedder believeit]

I guess to a certain extent you have to decide what the definition of "a controller" is. Having been in this job (with licence) since July 1970, and still operational at a fairly busy airport (Hong Kong) I am sometimes bemused when meeting people and they tell me "I know such and such - he/she is an ATC" and they are either assistants, flight service officers, cleaners etc. Not wishing to bemoan others, but in HK I think there are about 250 odd people who would be defined on the books as controllers, but there are probably something like 200 work face controllers, so there is quite a big fudge factor. Of course we have to have management and training departments etc.

One thing I do know is that in my 40 plus years as a controller, I have never had to worry about being furloughed, laid off, made redundant, not being able to get a job etc. We haven't changed significantly in numbers over the last 20 or 30 years but we move a hell of a lot more traffic.

When I left Australian ATC about 20 years ago, there was just shy of a 1000 ATC's, I believe it's just over that figure now, but probably moving between two and three times the traffic.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<My UK/ATCO licence number was 1982.>>

They messed up the numbering, dave, when they gave us new tickets around 1993 (?). My original was 1018 and the "new" one was 11015. God knows where they got that number from!

Bren McC (ex EGLL)

[undervaluedATC]

I'm willing to bet that whatever number AsA comes up with is fairly inflated

[Tarq57]

Less than there are of "them".

[SINGAPURCANAC]

According to IFATCA judgment some 100 000 ATCOs worldwide.

[man friday]

11 of us in Gib

[rab-k]

Approx 50 in EGGX. (WMPU...that'd be the Latvian or Lithuanian barmaid?...:E)

[Brian81]

On the 18th February 2008, I asked the CAA licencing people how many ACTIVE ATCO licences they had on the system.

Their answer was just over 2400 for the entire UK CAA issued licences.

Hope that helps.

:ok:

Brian.

[WhatMeanPullUp]

Thanks Brian, so I guess somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 worldwide.

Rab-K, nah, she was Filipino, very nice girl, very clean...........:ok:

[WhatMeanPullUp]

Being in a saddo type of mood, I looked up the population of the earth and Air Traffic Controllers are basically 1:90,000 people very approximately. How many pilots are there? There are approximately 800,000 commercial pilots in the USA, so globally? We know there are more of them than of us but roughly how many? ;)

[arearadar]

Hello Director,

My licence was issued in Nov 1971 if my memory serves me right, but I have my doubts !

Dave