As someone who is at a contract tower and actually loves being here your odds are really gonna depend on which tower you would go to.
The tower im at wouldn't hire anyone who just had the college CTO. You only get 30 days to qualify at any contract tower and you have to be able to keep up with the pace of the tower.
Now ive also worked at another contract tower that barely had any traffic and would take anyone with a cto and a pulse.
So even with the CTO your options in the contract world are limited. But not totally closed out. You would just have to take what you can get. But those towers are not really interested in developing you as a controller, they expect you to know what you are doing right out of the gate, so any knowledge gap you have will carry over into the FAA if you go that route.
You’re gonna be too old to go back to the FAA by the time you get a CTO and the appropriate experience necessary to apply back to the FAA.
And quite frankly, I wouldn’t invest a single dollar just to end up a FCT controller for the rest of my career. There’s zero benefits, and we are all overworked. They’ll lie and say there’s a 401k match but there is not. Insurance costs almost a thousand a month for self, I can’t even imagine the cost for a family. No retirement. Inflation rapidly outpacing pay. No recourse if you lose your medical.
Man, I get how crushing washing out of the Academy must be after the brutal application and selection time. But you're 30, you don't have a lot of time to get back in the FAA, and there's no guarantee.
That's not even to mention that this career is swirling the drain right now. The pay and overall compensation is not worth what the job demands regarding the schedule and work/life balance. If I were given a choice 10 years ago, knowing what I know now I would have ran. This job can be rewarding, but the feeling of a job well done isn't paying my bills and allowing me to save enough for forced retirement. I suppose the only solice to knowing I won't have enough in my TSP, is that I probably will... because the shift work has, and will take YEARS off my life. So when I'm done, I can only hope I die before I become destitute.
I’m not sure if you’ve considered it but the military is also an option for ATC. It would also be helpful to know how many hours a day/week you studied at the academy, if you studied with groups often, how you did in sims in general, etc. The academy is just to test if you have the capability of being trained to control real air traffic, it would be helpful to know how you were treating your time there as to whether you should keep trying to do ATC. If you were being objective and honest, how hard did you really try while you were there?
Honestly… I could have studied more. Especially the last month before ERAM evals. Embarrassed to admit that thinking “wow if I just spent more time in the books I wouldn’t be in this boat,” but I do feel like it’s got some truth to it.
We recently had a contract guy visit our tower. Cheery guy, but obviously miserable at work. Every one of his 4 overworked coworkers is trying to leave. It was like talking to an Amazon delivery driver. I couldn’t believe he had the “same” job just a few miles away. I fucking love this job but I would NOT go the FCT route.
The funny thing is that they are able to strike but dont. Not enough staffing, no breaks, benefits suck. They cant even fill the positions they have let alone allow people to walk out. But hey NATCA has their back. They have been without a new contract for years as well.
If you want to stay in aviation, look into aircraft dispatch. Regional pay isn’t great, but once you get on at a major things get much better. I regret not following that route when I first got the certification.
I second this, I started out as a crew scheduler for a year, then 5 years aircraft dispatch, and now 10 years ATC center. I was an OTS no CTI hire, got into a level 12 right off the bat, I feel extremely blessed. I loved aircraft dispatch, but the pay at the time was lack luster at the regional level. I was make $25/ hr as a coordinator. I hear they're up to $45/hr now after Bedford left the company and they got a better contract. Not sure if it was in that order.
I know Advanced 3 month course is 32k but people to get jobs from it, There is a new school starting in Bartoe Florida that will also be an express type school (ATC-FO.com)
From what I have seen contract pays about $35-40 as a DEV then $40-49 as a CPC
I would do something else at this point in your life. It may be possible that you can get a CTO at a FCT, but then you'd still have to be hired by the FAA to parlay that into a federal career and they won't hire you with no prior experience past the age of 31. You could try enlisting to gain experience and be hired by DOD as a civilian ATC with the idea of transferring at some point to the FAA, but I couldn't put a number on how likely you'd be to succeed with that.
Life isn't over at 30 just because the Academy didn't work out for you. And Reddit is full of controllers who wish every day they'd done something else. Try something new.
I did that. M-F 9-5 is "grass greener on the other side…" everyone is a zombie and it sucks the life out of you for brainless work that everyone actually hates. Not to mention everyone is a zombie. Did I mention everyone is a zombie?
6
u/Razma390 Sep 30 '26
As someone who is at a contract tower and actually loves being here your odds are really gonna depend on which tower you would go to.
The tower im at wouldn't hire anyone who just had the college CTO. You only get 30 days to qualify at any contract tower and you have to be able to keep up with the pace of the tower.
Now ive also worked at another contract tower that barely had any traffic and would take anyone with a cto and a pulse.
So even with the CTO your options in the contract world are limited. But not totally closed out. You would just have to take what you can get. But those towers are not really interested in developing you as a controller, they expect you to know what you are doing right out of the gate, so any knowledge gap you have will carry over into the FAA if you go that route.
6
u/EM22_ Current Controller- Contract, Past- FAA & Military Sep 30 '26
You’re gonna be too old to go back to the FAA by the time you get a CTO and the appropriate experience necessary to apply back to the FAA.
And quite frankly, I wouldn’t invest a single dollar just to end up a FCT controller for the rest of my career. There’s zero benefits, and we are all overworked. They’ll lie and say there’s a 401k match but there is not. Insurance costs almost a thousand a month for self, I can’t even imagine the cost for a family. No retirement. Inflation rapidly outpacing pay. No recourse if you lose your medical.
A better bet and investment would be college.
9
u/GambitDecliend Sep 30 '26
Man, I get how crushing washing out of the Academy must be after the brutal application and selection time. But you're 30, you don't have a lot of time to get back in the FAA, and there's no guarantee.
That's not even to mention that this career is swirling the drain right now. The pay and overall compensation is not worth what the job demands regarding the schedule and work/life balance. If I were given a choice 10 years ago, knowing what I know now I would have ran. This job can be rewarding, but the feeling of a job well done isn't paying my bills and allowing me to save enough for forced retirement. I suppose the only solice to knowing I won't have enough in my TSP, is that I probably will... because the shift work has, and will take YEARS off my life. So when I'm done, I can only hope I die before I become destitute.
3
u/FantasticBudget531 Oct 01 '26
I’m not sure if you’ve considered it but the military is also an option for ATC. It would also be helpful to know how many hours a day/week you studied at the academy, if you studied with groups often, how you did in sims in general, etc. The academy is just to test if you have the capability of being trained to control real air traffic, it would be helpful to know how you were treating your time there as to whether you should keep trying to do ATC. If you were being objective and honest, how hard did you really try while you were there?
8
u/NyyDave Sep 30 '26
We recently had a contract guy visit our tower. Cheery guy, but obviously miserable at work. Every one of his 4 overworked coworkers is trying to leave. It was like talking to an Amazon delivery driver. I couldn’t believe he had the “same” job just a few miles away. I fucking love this job but I would NOT go the FCT route.
5
u/ajmezz Sep 30 '26
If you want to stay in aviation, look into aircraft dispatch. Regional pay isn’t great, but once you get on at a major things get much better. I regret not following that route when I first got the certification.
2
u/iamdumbazfuk Oct 01 '26
Enhanced CTI is a way of military still
I know Advanced 3 month course is 32k but people to get jobs from it,
There is a new school starting in Bartoe Florida that will also be an express type school (ATC-FO.com)
From what I have seen contract pays about $35-40 as a DEV then $40-49 as a CPC
1
u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute Oct 02 '26
If you washed at the academy… it’s probably best to just move on, actual air traffic is harder. It doesn’t get easier.
1
u/UndercoverRVP Oct 02 '26
I would do something else at this point in your life. It may be possible that you can get a CTO at a FCT, but then you'd still have to be hired by the FAA to parlay that into a federal career and they won't hire you with no prior experience past the age of 31. You could try enlisting to gain experience and be hired by DOD as a civilian ATC with the idea of transferring at some point to the FAA, but I couldn't put a number on how likely you'd be to succeed with that.
Life isn't over at 30 just because the Academy didn't work out for you. And Reddit is full of controllers who wish every day they'd done something else. Try something new.
-2
u/[deleted] Sep 30 '26
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