What's new

Jacksonville Air Traffic Controller Protest

After being in the aviation biz for 20yrs, it's funny listening to non industry people talk about the technical aspects of how shit works:lmao:

Makes me wonder what other professions watch the news and here other people talk and are like "what the fuck that's not how any of that shit works!!"
I’ve seen the movie, airplane….. I know how it works!!!!
:flipoff2::flipoff2::flipoff2:
 
My job in the Army was an Aviation Operations Specialist, at AIT we trained along side the ATC's and both MOS's merged once you hit E-7, IIRC. The ATC's were in AIT for I think 4-6 months, while we were there about 8 weeks. So learning to be an ATC isn't something you're going to "pick up" with On-The-Job-Training. On top of that, it is possibly the most stressful job someone can have.

As for working remote, the technology might be there, but I doubt it. ATC's are constantly monitoring blips on the radar and while it is likely much more computer/software based than when I was in, it would require a highly stable internet connection. For a normal "work from home" job, if your internet goes down for a couple of minutes, you just have to wait to send that email or open/save that file (many times you might not even notice it went down!). If you were WFH as an ATC and your internet went down for a couple of minutes, while it was down two planes collided in mid-air killing 200-500 people.
Remote doesn't always mean at home. They could be consolidated in a regional .gov facility, not at each airport.

Most of the .mil drone stuff is done this way. The pilots and trigger fingers can be anywhere.
 
After being in the aviation biz for 20yrs, it's funny listening to non industry people talk about the technical aspects of how shit works:lmao:

Makes me wonder what other professions watch the news and here other people talk and are like "what the fuck that's not how any of that shit works!!"
Don't share or anything, just be an ass. Put the info out, educate us don't hit us over the head. There's enough division, tell us how it works.
 
Thought it would be an ok way to make >$100k and be able to move elsewhere. :homer:
IT jobs. Work remote anywhere and make well into 6 figs.

I live where I want in an RV working 4/10s doing AWS Cloud Engineer work. My lifestyle is Aloha Thursday. All of my professional decisions are made on the foundation of - Aloha Thursday.

Life is too short for it to suck. :flipoff2:

:usa:
 
Last edited:
Don't share or anything, just be an ass. Put the info out, educate us don't hit us over the head. There's enough division, tell us how it works.
Is Slander talking about our discussion or the talking heads? I know anytime I see anything aviation related in the news it makes me shake my head.
 
Is Slander talking about our discussion or the talking heads? I know anytime I see anything aviation related in the news it makes me shake my head.
Good point, if it's the latter, please accept my apologies.

I'd love to know more about the operation of ATC. Airports and air travel kind of fascinate me, the whole inefficient ways to the most efficient end scenario is pretty telling of our human nature.
 
Remote doesn't always mean at home. They could be consolidated in a regional .gov facility, not at each airport.

Most of the .mil drone stuff is done this way. The pilots and trigger fingers can be anywhere.
No, most of the USAF drone stuff is done this way. The Army is actually in/near the country they are "remotely" strafing, while the Chair Force is doing it from an Air-Conditioned building within the confines of Nellis AFB, and they can head straight to the strip after their shift, if they so desire.
 
Is Slander talking about our discussion or the talking heads? I know anytime I see anything aviation related in the news it makes me shake my head.
Both, mainly the news though.
Good point, if it's the latter, please accept my apologies.

I'd love to know more about the operation of ATC. Airports and air travel kind of fascinate me, the whole inefficient ways to the most efficient end scenario is pretty telling of our human nature.
I'm sure at this point there is a ton of YouTube videos on this, but a start is the FAA regs on airspace:

Fly8ma.com on YouTube has some good training videos on Instrument flying and approaches that will help demystify stuff.

It's actually a very efficient if you know what's going on, the obvious goal is to keep planes from hitting each other. Most of the perceived inefficiencies are because people describe what's going on wrong "the towers telling the plane to circle the airport":shaking:. Looking at a map the routes may seem like they are taking you the long way to you destination, but the controllers are sequencing planes in for approaches a few hundred miles from the destination, avoiding weather, different equipment capabilities on the aircraft etc.

I have a friend who is a center controller back in Chicago and the stories he was telling when the centers were getting whacked by COVID evacuations are pretty crazy. As in they would close it in the middle of the day and hand it all off to another center type stuff and or a few major airports reverting back to non controlled airspace when they closed the tower due to the coof. Non controlled meaning it's the pilots job to see and avoid each other as opposed to a controller.

I wanted to go into ATC but at the time it was hard to get in and they JUST started hiring controllers off the street. Before you had to go to thier special academy. That and you would have to deal with pilots all day which is miserable in and of itself.
 
Last edited:
No, most of the USAF drone stuff is done this way. The Army is actually in/near the country they are "remotely" strafing, while the Chair Force is doing it from an Air-Conditioned building within the confines of Nellis AFB, and they can head straight to the strip after their shift, if they so desire.
Wasn't the USAF having issues with drone pilots having a hard time switching from running drones to protect our troops and our allies or shooting people, dropping bombs, etc to going home at the end of the day?

Aaron Z
 
Both, mainly the news though.

I'm sure at this point there is a ton of YouTube videos on this, but a start is the FAA regs on airspace:

It's actually a very efficient if you know what's going on, the obvious goal is to keep planes from hitting each other. Most of the perceived inefficiencies are because people describe what's going on wrong "the towers telling the plane to circle the airport":shaking:. Looking at a map the routes may seem like they are taking you the long way to you destination, but the controllers are sequencing planes in for approaches a few hundred miles from the destination, avoiding weather, different equipment capabilities on the aircraft etc.

I have a friend who is a center controller back in Chicago and the stories he was telling when the centers were getting whacked by COVID evacuations are pretty crazy. As in they would close it in the middle of the day and hand it all off to another center type stuff and or a few major airports reverting back to non controlled airspace when they closed the tower due to the coof. Non controlled meaning it's the pilots job to see and avoid each other as opposed to a controller.

I wanted to go into ATC but at the time it was hard to get in and they JUST started hiring controllers off the street. Before you had to go to thier special academy. That and you would have to deal with pilots all day which is miserable in and of itself.
My efficiency comparison was this:

Behind the scenes (ATC, flight ops,) = efficiency

Up front (airport and security) = inefficient shit show

It amazes me that the stark differences work so closely together :homer:
 
My efficiency comparison was this:

Behind the scenes (ATC, flight ops,) = efficiency

Up front (airport and security) = inefficient shit show

It amazes me that the stark differences work so closely together :homer:
Oh yeah for sure!! The solution to problems is to throw complexity and layers of red tape at problems until they go away or get buried.

It's a bizzare industry, its simultaneously cheap and pisses away money on dumbest shit!

Example when I was working at an airline they couldn't give me a company phone in order to save money, meanwhile they were buying $250,000 belt loaders (those mobile conveyors that load your bags) like I would buy toilet paper. When I was in the business aircraft world, we would be towing a $60million Gulfstream with a booger welded together tow bar made out of scrap metal type shit. Weird industry!
 
IT jobs. Work remote anywhere and make well into 6 figs.

I live where I want in an RV working 4/10s doing AWS Cloud Engineer work. My lifestyle is Aloha Thursday. All of my professional decisions are made on the foundation of - Aloha Thursday.

Life is too short for it to suck. :flipoff2:

:usa:
Yup, wife's a tech headhunter.... I hear all about how much you fuckers are getting paid! :flipoff2:

Problem is, I'm hilariously bad at math and anything like maths.:laughing:

Luckily for my job I can fake it, ask a friend, delegate or lean on an intern so it doesn't come up that much. :homer::flipoff2:
 
Oh yeah for sure!! The solution to problems is to throw complexity and layers of red tape at problems until they go away or get buried.

It's a bizzare industry, its simultaneously cheap and pisses away money on dumbest shit!

Example when I was working at an airline they couldn't give me a company phone in order to save money, meanwhile they were buying $250,000 belt loaders (those mobile conveyors that load your bags) like I would buy toilet paper. When I was in the business aircraft world, we would be towing a $60million Gulfstream with a booger welded together tow bar made out of scrap metal type shit. Weird industry!
E22C2C8A-77D3-431F-9994-2DF04D35345E.jpeg

Don’t forget… they also have to be on the lookout for runway staff becoming instant pilots and never coming back!!!!!
 
Taking off is the easy part! Its the landings that take skill! I have 14000+ hours and over 11000 of those are in airliners. I would say most pilots just want to complete the flight and move on with our day. Not to many guys love the career/industry anymore. The absolute best part of this job is that when we step off the airplane we leave all things work related behind until the next flight.
 
It's a bizzare industry, its simultaneously cheap and pisses away money on dumbest shit!

Example when I was working at an airline they couldn't give me a company phone in order to save money, meanwhile they were buying $250,000 belt loaders (those mobile conveyors that load your bags) like I would buy toilet paper. When I was in the business aircraft world, we would be towing a $60million Gulfstream with a booger welded together tow bar made out of scrap metal type shit. Weird industry!
:lmao: Never were truer words spoken. Add in corporate and shit gets 10x worse :shaking: Especially if you're in maintenance.
 
Taking off is the easy part! Its the landings that take skill! I have 14000+ hours and over 11000 of those are in airliners. I would say most pilots just want to complete the flight and move on with our day. Not to many guys love the career/industry anymore. The absolute best part of this job is that when we step off the airplane we leave all things work related behind until the next flight.
I went to college to be an airline pilot, 9/11 was my first week of school so that reversed that plan. All the laid off airline pilots at the FBO I was working at told me this. They all said stay on the ground, get a real job and fly for fun.

Flip side of that my friend who flies for southwest tells me it's the best part time job he's ever had, so I guess it's what you make of it!
 
Dont get me wrong, it is a great career that pays well for the amount of time we have off. I'm disgusted that I am losing it over the vax, however the passion for flying gets beat down by corporate/fed BS over the years. I am not looking forward to having a real job:laughing:.

I am holding out hope that the mandate will be reconsidered/revoked before my termination date. I still have 20 years to give the industry before retirement, would love to not have to start over.
 
Yup, wife's a tech headhunter.... I hear all about how much you fuckers are getting paid! :flipoff2:

Problem is, I'm hilariously bad at math and anything like maths.:laughing:

Luckily for my job I can fake it, ask a friend, delegate or lean on an intern so it doesn't come up that much. :homer::flipoff2:
We do the same things. IT Project Managers are worthless overpaid superstars. PMP Cert from memorized brain dumps, read a book for dummies on the topic and get your wife to get you in.

Done.
 
Dont get me wrong, it is a great career that pays well for the amount of time we have off. I'm disgusted that I am losing it over the vax, however the passion for flying gets beat down by corporate/fed BS over the years. I am not looking forward to having a real job:laughing:.

I am holding out hope that the mandate will be reconsidered/revoked before my termination date. I still have 20 years to give the industry before retirement, would love to not have to start over.
Start your own bis. as an IP?


I want my damn Pilots license so bad, but it just keeps getting more and more expensive, I'm thinking a Kitfox and a sports pilot license are going to be the only way I can "afford" it now. I've been hooked on flying since I was a little kid.
 
Start your own bis. as an IP?


I want my damn Pilots license so bad, but it just keeps getting more and more expensive, I'm thinking a Kitfox and a sports pilot license are going to be the only way I can "afford" it now. I've been hooked on flying since I was a little kid.
Bush pilot in Alaska :usa:
 
Dont get me wrong, it is a great career that pays well for the amount of time we have off. I'm disgusted that I am losing it over the vax, however the passion for flying gets beat down by corporate/fed BS over the years. I am not looking forward to having a real job:laughing:.

I am holding out hope that the mandate will be reconsidered/revoked before my termination date. I still have 20 years to give the industry before retirement, would love to not have to start over.
Damn, you've got to respect that you're willing to walk on that much money and time off for principles.

On the other hand, you could get the J and J and not receive the mark of the beast and keep your career. :flipoff2:

Fuck maybe I should look into being a pilot again, looks like there's going to be more open positions than normal. Buddy of mine works for Delta and he told me last year he could coach me through school and what to do to get in with a major carrier in minimal time. Looks like pay would be the same starting out as what I make now, then after a few years be making almost triple and have the flight perks....:flipoff2:
 
It's a bizzare industry, its simultaneously cheap and pisses away money on dumbest shit!
All the places one can tastefully save money it is illegal to do so because someone went overboard once upon a time so now you're only allowed to skimp in places that are so asinine nobody has tried to do it before.
 
IT jobs. Work remote anywhere and make well into 6 figs.

I live where I want in an RV working 4/10s doing AWS Cloud Engineer work. My lifestyle is Aloha Thursday. All of my professional decisions are made on the foundation of - Aloha Thursday.

Life is too short for it to suck. :flipoff2:

:usa:
Do IT companies hire new grads in their 40s or is it strictly a young persons game?
 
Top Back Refresh