Do video game players make ideal recruits to be air traffic controllers? The FAA is targeting gamers directly in its new hiring push.
The Federal Aviation Administration is officially recruiting video game players to be part of the next generation of air traffic controllers. Part of that push has been accompanied by a new ad campaign aimed at gamers that uses video game footage and Xbox sound effects to make the pitch that players can earn a six-figure salary by applying their in-game skills to the real world.
61 Comments
ThatGuy46475@lemmy.world · 89 pts · 128d
Idea: atc roguelike, the highest setting is the U.S. where you randomly don’t get paid sometimes
18107@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 127d
You also have to work 2-3 positions at the same time, without the required equipment to accurately monitor the location of planes, with faulty alarms going off multiple times per day, and you get blamed if you lose concentration for a second at the wrong moment.
RobotToaster@mander.xyz · 34 pts · 128d
What do you mean there's no quick load on this game?
Billygoat@piefed.social · 19 pts · 128d
Dude, you can’t save scum your way to coordinating the airspace.
Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 128d
Future News Headline
solrize@lemmy.ml · 18 pts · 128d
Don't pilots already do that?
Wunz@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 128d
Until the next government shutdown...
OpenStars@piefed.social · 12 pts · 128d
Wait... but the current one is still going on though!?!? (The 3rd one this fiscal year I mean, since October 2025)
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de · 8 pts · 128d
anyone remember 2013 which is when I first learned that government shutdowns were a thing that existed and when they were an extraordinary occurrence? :'D
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 127d
i'm gonna be honest, the idea that the government can allocate funding but not appropriate the funding is sophistry of the highest order
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 128d
they sure arnt reporting this in the MSM, because last freaked out alot of people from both sides.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 23 pts · 127d
Here's an idea: offer to pay for their education and give them a stable career with a comfortable salary, comprehensive benefits package, and room for advancement.
Oh, what's that? You won't, because then billionaires wouldn't be able to treat them like slaves? Well, suck it then. No ATCs for you!
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 127d
reagan made it untenable for people to be one, plus very limited age you have to be one, and to retire "early" than 60.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 127d
Reagan really set us up for a lot of shit that came later.
Someone on Lemmy recently told me that was "great person fallacy." Like what the fuck? No it isn't. The man is directly responsible for a whole bundle of decisions which fucked the US (and the world) over for decades, and we're still dealing with the aftermath. I don't know why anyone would try to defend Reagan, and using an argument against hero worship to do it. Makes no sense...
TotalCourage007@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 127d
Wouldn't great person fallacy imply the opposite of that poster? LMAO 🤣. I don't get the celebrity worshippers.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 127d
Just .mls doing mental gymnastics to say fascism is all the liberals' fault (while simultaneously minimizing the role of actual fascists/conservatives)
sundray@lemmus.org · 22 pts · 128d
"What's up chat, today we're going to be routing traffic at LAX--whoa, is that Elon's private plane?"
_lilith@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 127d
oh man that sounds so fun. Let me sign up to work abusive hours in an understaffed underpaid position that requires a high level of skill and multitasking using outdated technology. Also I'll get to fight bees and bats on the way to my un air conditioned office at the top of a tower because the elevator has been broken since 2007
As a bonus sometimes you get to work a second job because the paycheck stops randomly
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 7 pts · 127d
oh and you may or may not get on a waiting list, from what ive heard its quite long and then potentially go in the middle of nowhere to "TRAIN" for like 2 years, and then you have to get certs. and the salary(in cali its around 53,4k starting salary)? its laughable for what you go through. and you dont get to choose locations of employment. Might as well use all that time to become a nurse, which makes way more.
Evotech@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 127d
Sounds gamers are over qualified for that
Gust@piefed.social · 19 pts · 128d
The FAA wants to recruit children as ATC because most people who have been alive for longer have seen how quickly the FAA will fuck them over and try to get them to work for free while striking is illegal. I wouldn't even consider working ATC before like $150k/yr based on all the "work without pay during the shutdown" fuckery I've seen from the FAA during my lifetime
OpenStars@piefed.social · 4 pts · 127d
The more desperate someone is - and also red-pilled - the more likely that they will accept working under those, or any, conditions.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 127d
trying to apply to atc school seems very competitive, its doesnt seem like atc is "Take anyone with a heartbeat" type of job. desperate person isnt going to wait that long to go in the middle of nowhere to go to school for like years.
OpenStars@piefed.social · 1 pts · 127d
Not all desperate people for sure, and not all will be so red-pilled, but as a trend, the many people currently signing up - and who qualify - will tend to be more of both than average in the population.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 127d
i took a quick glance at cali, starting salary, its abysmal low for how long and expensive to become one, at around 53.4k for starters. basically its like being a teacher.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 127d
It's amazing to me that there are not daily crashes.
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 19 pts · 128d
I know my hours of playing Tetris got me a job at the store bagging groceries. Employee of the month!
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 128d
Tetris = bagging
Starcraft = air traffic control
Minecraft = architecture
Sims = HR
Pokemon = animal control
Assetto Corsa = Uber
TwilitSky@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 128d
I think Doom is more on par w HR
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 127d
I think it's
Sims = HR in California
Doom = HR in Washington D.C.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 128d
That sounds like some "tales from the trenches" talk.
Lemminary@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 128d
Will they really get paid, though?
Frenchgeek@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 128d
Hupf@feddit.org · 5 pts · 128d
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 127d
yes but not a high salary, but a pretty low one if they can BECOME an atc.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 127d
"hello passengers, this is you captain..uhhh.... we're going to have to do another circle around Chicago because ...uhhh...our traffic controller rage quit and called us a bunch of f*gs"
YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 128d
Bad idea! You know they'll all rage quit.
GrabtharsHammer@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 128d
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 128d
Do you want ATC to tell planes to do a barrel roll?
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 10 pts · 128d
the problem is that, its extremely restrictive to get in even to start school, plus you can be over 31, plus other DQs.
njm1314@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 128d
I think I read once that there was maybe two schools in the nation that could certify you. Hell it might have been one. So incredibly hard to get into, and producing an incredibly small number of trained individuals.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 127d
and then TRUMP made the ones that were being waitlisted, or waiting quit or something. and i heard you dont have a choice after you actually become one, let alone you have to live in ohklahoma for the training. to be fair the salary isnt that high to begin with for such an extensive "education", better off going to college and getting a degree in something useful or even working retail for a while. assuming thier physically capable maybe the trades for some of them,.
stoly@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 128d
They will all have either psychological issues or previous cannabis use. Both are lifetime disqualifying conditions because the laws in force were written in the 1930s.
SlurpingPus@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 128d
Fun fact: there've been a bunch of ATC simulator games back in the eighties to mid-nineties, but the most successful ongoing series seems to be ‘Air Traffic Controller’, which is of course Japanese. Aside from Windows, it notably includes versions for PSP, DS, 3DS, and several mobile ports that are probably only released in Japan.
Supposedly the series includes layouts of real airports, mostly Japanese ones.
a_wild_mimic_appears@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 128d
A fun game is Mini Airways, which also deals with managing the takeoff and landing of planes. According to this Game, I am NOT qualified for that job.
SlurpingPus@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 128d
One would think that this game is from the same developer as ‘Mini Metro’ and ‘Mini Motorways’, but nope. 🤔
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 128d
We're all going to die
TwilitSky@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 128d
This statement will always be true.
ryannathans@aussie.zone · 7 pts · 128d
That's been the norm for years in au/nz
webkitten@piefed.social · 7 pts · 128d
fodor@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 128d
Better pay them massive signing bonuses. Otherwise they be like fuck no, thank you kindly.
stupidcasey@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 127d
From what I know about the FAA they would probably recruit a squirrel if they could get away with it.
curiousaur@reddthat.com · 6 pts · 127d
Strict drug testing as phyc evaluations. You can't even be on antidepressants. Good luck.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 127d
Oh dear god, they're going to hire AirForceProud.
TonyOstrich@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 127d
Slew mode activated
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 127d
That's a no go on runway 12 E, its currently being used by a Blimp... with an approach speed of ... Mach 3 ... and ... there he goes ...
Ahem, you are clear to approach on 12 E.
BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 127d
Keeping all that planes from colliding, and taking responsibility for all these lives?
They'd have to pay me like $1M in annual salary
DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 127d
Who qualifies as a gamer? Are much money can I expect to start off making with my Dark Souls no hit, no bonfire run on ng+?
Cort@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 127d
100k+/year with pension and forced retirement at age 56. But you gotta be under 31 to be hired. It costs so much to train that they want to make sure they get at least 25 years out of you.
tal@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 128d
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeC0ZTT8n7E
the_mighty_kracken@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 128d
Can't wait for gamergate at gate 9.
dan69@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 127d
Hey this hits two of my things: needing a job and I’m a gamer..
otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 128d
Wasn't that a Robin Williams flick?