Tough Day At Work? Here's What It's Like To Be An Air Traffic Controller

If you want to make $145,000 a year and can handle stress, this may be the job for you.

I would never have guessed that the busiest airport in the world is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). I figured it would be in some other part of the world. If things get backed up at ATL, it quickly affects air travel all over the US and the world.

Some interesting takeaways:

Flight controllers often have to track airplanes at a time. The human brain can generally keep track of about 7 things at a time.

The FAA requires that controllers take breaks every 2 hours.

There are local controllers that direct takeoffs and landings and ground controllers to direct traffic on the ground.

There are physical paper strips held in strip holders that are fed by gravity to track the planes, even though they are also now tracked on a monitor.

Photo credit: Joe Raedle Getty Images News


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