Meridith Getty

Wise words from a veteran air traffic controller: I’ve been an Air Traffic Controller for 24 years, 1 month, and 28 days. I have worked in Chicago, Las Vegas, Southern California, and Minneapolis. Some of the busiest airspace in the world. When I say I’m a controller most people say “what tower are you in?”. I’ve never worked in a tower. I’ve only worked in radar facilities. What many people don’t realize is that you are under the control of an air traffic controller from the time you push back until the time you pull back up to the gate. We are safely guiding your aircraft, making sure you miss other planes, terrain, and obstructions. We work you on the taxiway, to departure, to level flight, then sequence you onto a final, clear you to land and taxi you safely back to the gate. We work 24/7. Nights, weekends, holidays. We work for IOUs during government shutdowns. For the first 10 years of my career my days off were Tuesday/Wednesday. We miss birthdays, holidays, family gatherings, sporting events, dinners with friends, concerts….all because we are dedicated to our careers. We have to be 100%, 100% of the time. The qualifications to get this job are intense. Aptitude tests, psychological tests, medical clearances. Then when you get through the initial hiring process and get to your facility it takes years of training before you are “checked out” and working airplanes on your own. Map drawing, tests, performance evaluations, memorization of hundreds of rules and numbers that need to be ready for immediate recall. To put it in perspective I had been a controller for 21 years when I transferred to Minneapolis and even with my vast experience at very busy facilities, it still took me over a year to check out. No one cares what school you went to, what branch of service you were in, or even if you got hired with no experience. Hard work and aptitude are everything. Not just anyone can do this job. We lose a lot of trainees because they can’t do the job to the level that is expected of us. I was hired under the Clinton administration and have worked under 5 different Presidents. No matter who is in office, the level of service and professionalism does not change. To us it doesn’t matter if the pilot, passengers, or VIP belong to the same political party as us as individuals. We are there to keep the skies safe and politics has no role in that. What has remained consistent under every administration is that we are understaffed. What has also remained consistent is every single controller’s dedication to safety and service, even while working 6 days a week and sometimes 10 hours a day. The claims that DEI has somehow compromised air traffic safety is false, misleading, and downright disrespectful to the hard working people that sacrifice sleep, family time, good days off, holidays, and relationships to be dedicated civil servants. We are proud of our careers. It is a very stressful and difficult job, but it is also really rewarding. I am proud to be an Air Traffic Controller and I am a proud union member. Tragedies like this shake each of us to our core. I didn’t have to be in the tower cab that night to feel that deep pain and trauma. We are all hurting and deeply affected by the tragedy in DC. Because we all know that even if you do everything right, tragedy can still strike and you can be under a microscope on a national stage. That could have been any one of us that night. Then being judged by people that have never put on a headset and have no idea what they’re talking about. My heart breaks for the families/friends of those that lost their lives in the crash and for the controllers that were there that night. It is truly what we all have nightmares about. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers if that is your thing. But I would ask that you keep all air traffic controllers and pilots in your thoughts and prayers too.