New Air Traffic Controller Job Pay Scale

[Vigo]

Hello,

Hopefully this is an acceptable forum and section to post this to. I feel like my question might come off as a bit snobby, but it is important and something that I need to ask about in order to make a decision about this.

I have a tentative offer of employment as an Air Traffic Control Specialist at the Juneau Flight Service Station in Juneau, AK. I have started the process (background, fingerprints, drug test, etc.) but am questioning whether this is really a good idea.

I have worked as a law enforcement dispatcher for the last seven years and applied to the ATCS job because it seemed like a good logical move up to go to the next level and keep growing. Websites always talk about how Air Traffic Controllers make around $120,000 or more as well, which would be more than I could ever make as a dispatcher.

However, in the job offer once I get out of training the pay is $40,000 plus locality which comes out to a yearly salary of $54,000. On top of that I would have to move to Alaska. This pay is not what I was expecting and about $30,000 below what I already make as a dispatcher.

If this is something where you have to start off super low but within couple years you quickly move up to the higher pay - then that is okay. I am willing to work for a bit to build up to something where the pay is much more comfortable than what I currently make.

But I have a feeling that this isn’t going to be the case.

Is this type of salary something that is expected for an ATC? Does this salary move up or will I be making this for several years (in which case, it doesn’t really make any sense to take this job)?

Thanks for any input!

[KB4TEZ]

Well where the facility is located also has something to do with the salary.
gotta get your feet wet first.
here's some backround.


As of Jan 18, 2023, the average annual pay for an Entry Level Air Traffic Controller in Alaska is $46,523 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $22.37 an hour. This is the equivalent of $894/week or $3,876/month.

ATC salaries as high as $126,210 and as low as $20,698, the majority of Entry Level Air Traffic Controller salaries currently range between $32,309 (25th percentile) to $52,503 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $92,890 annually in Alaska.

The average pay range for an Entry Level Air Traffic Controller varies greatly (as much as $20,194), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.

Based on recent job posting activity the Entry Level Air Traffic Controller job market in Alaska is not very active as few companies are currently hiring.

Alaska ranks number 18 out of 50 states nationwide for Entry Level Air Traffic Controller salaries.

Now as your career progresses, and you get more radar time under your belt, learning the whole way, at that point you can move it on up, to other centers/facilities etc.

Crawl, walk, run as I say.

John

[welmer198]

If you applied to a Flight Service bid, you are not going to be an Air Traffic Control Specialist…you will be a Flight Service Specialist on a completely different payscale.

That said, when you complete all your training and become fully certified, you fall under the FSS CPC payband which is minimum $84,196 and maximum $120,051 with Alaska’s locality included. If it’s anything like the ATCS payscale, you start at the minimum and through contractual and annual presidential raises, you work your way up towards the maximum.

https://www.faa.gov/jobs/working_here/benefits/pay/fss_pay_table.xlsx

If this is your only reason for moving to Alaska, it doesn’t sound worth it, especially if you are under the impression you will eventually become an Air Traffic Controller involved in the active separation of aircraft. As far as I know, there isn’t much, if any, movement from FSS to ATC outside of FSS personnel applying to the general public bids.