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.
“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”
Strict drug testing as phyc evaluations. You can’t even be on antidepressants. Good luck.
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+?
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.
Idea: atc roguelike, the highest setting is the U.S. where you randomly don’t get paid sometimes
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.
What do you mean there’s no quick load on this game?
Dude, you can’t save scum your way to coordinating the airspace.
Future News Headline
FAA under scrutiny after air traffic controller terrifies numerous passengers because he was bored.
Don’t pilots already do that?
Until the next government shutdown…
Wait… but the current one is still going on though!?!? (The 3rd one this fiscal year I mean, since October 2025)
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
i’m gonna be honest, the idea that the government can allocate funding but not appropriate the funding is sophistry of the highest order
they sure arnt reporting this in the MSM, because last freaked out alot of people from both sides.
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!
reagan made it untenable for people to be one, plus very limited age you have to be one, and to retire “early” than 60.
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…
Wouldn’t great person fallacy imply the opposite of that poster? LMAO 🤣. I don’t get the celebrity worshippers.
Just .mls doing mental gymnastics to say fascism is all the liberals’ fault (while simultaneously minimizing the role of actual fascists/conservatives)
“What’s up chat, today we’re going to be routing traffic at LAX–whoa, is that Elon’s private plane?”
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
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.
Sounds gamers are over qualified for that
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
The more desperate someone is - and also red-pilled - the more likely that they will accept working under those, or any, conditions.
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.
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.
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.
It’s amazing to me that there are not daily crashes.
I know my hours of playing Tetris got me a job at the store bagging groceries. Employee of the month!
Tetris = bagging
Starcraft = air traffic control
Minecraft = architecture
Sims = HR
Pokemon = animal control
Assetto Corsa = Uber
I think Doom is more on par w HR
I think it’s
Sims = HR in California
Doom = HR in Washington D.C.
That sounds like some “tales from the trenches” talk.
Will they really get paid, though?
yes but not a high salary, but a pretty low one if they can BECOME an atc.
Bad idea! You know they’ll all rage quit.
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Do you want ATC to tell planes to do a barrel roll?
