i was lucky enough to go on a washing center (ZDC) tour last night. i was able to sit with a controller (more than 20 years experience) and watch/listen for about 30-minutes. it was a fascinating close up view of air traffic control. the amount of experience and coordination going on between controllers and pilots is very impressive. one thing that i did hear more than once though is the significant number of controllers coming up for retirement and the amount of hiring going on. i was also interested in how many controllers in that facility that had been there more than 20-years. there are not many companies that can make that claim nowadays. i was at my first job for 19-years before heading off to the dot com boom in 1998 (too late). that job had a pension which i would now be at 30-years for had i stayed.
when pres reagan fired the controllers (they went on strike in 1981) many were replaced by military controllers which are now retiring. it will be interesting to see how new hires will be trained and fit into the system.
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