CompGeo Salary Survey Benchmark Job Summary and Competencies

Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers

The Benchmark Job Description below represents the specific Position Characteristics of the job used in the Salary Survey. Benchmark Job Descriptions should be inspected carefully to review the degree of matching between an organizations' Job and the Salary Survey Benchmark. Matching internal Jobs to Salary Survey Benchmark Jobs should not be done on Job Title alone. A thorough comparison of Salary Survey Benchmark to Internal Job Descriptions is recommended. A good overlap should exist on any comparisons used on critical Job Dimensions and Competencies.
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
Summary Job Description Tasks
Control air traffic on and within vicinity of airport and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centers according to established procedures and policies. Authorize, regulate, and control commercial airline flights according to government or company regulations to expedite and ensure flight safety. Issue landing and take-off authorizations or instructions.
 
Monitor or direct the movement of aircraft within an assigned air space or on the ground at airports to minimize delays and maximize safety.
 
Monitor aircraft within a specific airspace, using radar, computer equipment, or visual references.
 
Inform pilots about nearby planes or potentially hazardous conditions, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, or visibility problems.
 
Provide flight path changes or directions to emergency landing fields for pilots traveling in bad weather or in emergency situations.
 
Alert airport emergency services in cases of emergency or when aircraft are experiencing difficulties.
 
Direct pilots to runways when space is available or direct them to maintain a traffic pattern until there is space for them to land.
 
Transfer control of departing flights to traffic control centers and accept control of arriving flights.
 
Direct ground traffic, including taxiing aircraft, maintenance or baggage vehicles, or airport workers.
 
Determine the timing or procedures for flight vector changes.
 
Maintain radio or telephone contact with adjacent control towers, terminal control units, or other area control centers to coordinate aircraft movement.
 
Contact pilots by radio to provide meteorological, navigational, or other information.
 
Initiate or coordinate searches for missing aircraft.
 
Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.
 
Relay air traffic information, such as courses, altitudes, or expected arrival times, to control centers.
 
Compile information about flights from flight plans, pilot reports, radar, or observations.
 
Inspect, adjust, or control radio equipment or airport lights.
 
Conduct pre-flight briefings on weather conditions, suggested routes, altitudes, indications of turbulence, or other flight safety information.
 
Analyze factors such as weather reports, fuel requirements, or maps to determine air routes.
 
Organize flight plans or traffic management plans to prepare for planes about to enter assigned airspace.
 
Review records or reports for clarity and completeness and maintain records or reports as required under federal law.
 
Complete daily activity reports and keep records of messages from aircraft.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
Important Knowledge Competencies Competency Description
Transportation Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
 
Public Safety and Security Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 
Geography Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
 
Education and Training Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 
Customer and Personal Service Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 
English Language Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 
Telecommunications Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
 
Computers and Electronics Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 
Law and Government Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
Important Skill Competencies Competency Description
Active Listening Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
 
Judgment and Decision Making Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
 
Speaking Talking to others to convey information effectively.
 
Monitoring Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
 
Complex Problem Solving Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
 
Critical Thinking Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
 
Reading Comprehension Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
 
Active Learning Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
 
Coordination Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
 
Social Perceptiveness Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
 
Operation Monitoring Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
 
Time Management Managing one's own time and the time of others.
 
Service Orientation Actively looking for ways to help people.
 
Systems Analysis Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
 
Writing Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
 
Learning Strategies Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
 
Systems Evaluation Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
 
Persuasion Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
 
Operations Analysis Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
 
Mathematics Using mathematics to solve problems.
 
Instructing Teaching others how to do something.
 
Management of Personnel Resources Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
Important Ability Competencies Competency Description
Oral Comprehension The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
 
Oral Expression The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
 
Problem Sensitivity The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
 
Flexibility of Closure The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
 
Deductive Reasoning The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
 
Selective Attention The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
 
Near Vision The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
 
Inductive Reasoning The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
 
Speech Clarity The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
 
Speed of Closure The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
 
Time Sharing The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
 
Perceptual Speed The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
 
Far Vision The ability to see details at a distance.
 
Speech Recognition The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
 
Written Comprehension The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
 
Information Ordering The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
 
Originality The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
 
Category Flexibility The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
 
Visualization The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
 
Auditory Attention The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
 
Fluency of Ideas The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
 
Mathematical Reasoning The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
 
Written Expression The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
 
Finger Dexterity The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
 
Number Facility The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
 
Visual Color Discrimination The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
 
Hearing Sensitivity The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
 
Memorization The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
 
Control Precision The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
 
Arm-Hand Steadiness The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
 
Manual Dexterity The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
 
Depth Perception The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
Tools/Technology Example Product Category
Advanced technologies and oceanic procedures ATOP Expert system software
 
Automated radar terminal systems ARTS Expert system software
 
Center TRACON automation systems CTAS Expert system software
 
Direct-To Tool software Flight control software
 
En route descent advisor EDA Flight control software
 
Expedite departure path EDP software Flight control software
 
Final approach spacing tool FAST software Flight control software
 
Flight simulation software Flight control software
 
Multi-center traffic management advisor McTMA software Flight control software
 
Traffic management advisor TMA software Flight control software
 
Air route surveillance radar ARSR systems Radarbased surveillance systems
 
Airport surface detection equipment ASDE systems Radarbased surveillance systems
 
Airport surveillance radar ASR systems Radarbased surveillance systems
 
Area navigation RNAV systems Aircraft guidance systems
 
Automatic direction finder ADF radio systems Aircraft guidance systems
 
Binoculars Binoculars
 
Controller pilot datalink communication CPDC systems Aircraft communication systems
 
Desktop computers Desktop computers
 
Differential global positioning system DGPS surveillance systems Aircraft guidance systems
 
Digital airport surveillance radar DASR systems Radarbased surveillance systems
 
Distance measuring equipment DME Aircraft guidance systems
 
Flight simulators Aircraft flight simulators or trainers
 
Frequency modulation FM two way radios Two way radios
 
Global positioning system GPS surveillance systems Aircraft guidance systems
 
High frequency HF radio communications systems Aircraft communication systems
 
Local area augmentation systems LAAS Aircraft guidance systems
 
Long range navigation systems LRNS Aircraft guidance systems
 
Mainframe computers Mainframe computers
 
Microwave landing systems MLS Aircraft guidance systems
 
Mode S radar systems Radarbased surveillance systems
 
Nondirectional radio beacon markers Aircraft navigation beacons
 
Personal computers Personal computers
 
Precision runway monitor PRM Radarbased surveillance systems
 
Standard terminal automation replacement systems STARS Aircraft guidance systems
 
Transponder landing systems TLS Aircraft guidance systems
 
Ultra high frequency UHF radio communication systems Aircraft communication systems
 
Very high frequency VHF radio communication systems Aircraft communication systems
 
Wide area augmentation systems WAAS Aircraft guidance systems
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
Prerequisite Qualification Category Education and Experience Level
Related Work Experience None
 
On-the-Job Training Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years
 
On-the-Job Training Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
 
Required Level of Education High School Diploma (or GED or High School Equivalence Certificate)
 
On-Site or In-Plant Training Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
Alternate Job Title(s)
Air Route Controller
Air Route Traffic Controller
Air Traffic Control Operator
Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS)
Air Traffic Controller
Air Traffic Controller (Enroute Option)
Air Traffic Controller (Tower Option)
Air Traffic Coordinator
Air Traffic Supervisor
Aircraft Communicator
Airline Dispatcher
Airport Tower Controller
Airport Traffic Controller
Airway Controller
Airway Traffic Controller
Airways Control Specialist
Airways Operations Specialist
Certified Professional Controller (CPC)
Chief Controller
Communications Operator
Communicator
Control Tower Operator
Dispatcher
Enroute Controller
Flight Communications Officer
Flight Control Specialist
Flight Dispatcher
Flight Radio Officer
Flight Radio Operator
Flight Service Specialist
Flight Tower Dispatcher
Ground Control Approach Technician (GCA Technician)
Signal Tower Operator
Station Air Traffic Control Specialist
Tower Air Traffic Control Specialist
Tower Control Operator
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation
Job Family: Air Transportation
Benchmark Title: Airplane Dispatchers and Air Traffic Controllers
 
 
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