How To Become A Traffic Control Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a traffic control operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a traffic control operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.51 an hour? That's $40,578 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreTraffic Control OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,578

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.61%

Asian 5.24%

Black or African American 9.76%

Hispanic or Latino 17.45%

Unknown 7.06%

White 59.87%

Gender

female 18.78%

male 81.22%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a traffic control operator

Explore traffic control operator education requirements

Most common traffic control operator degrees

High School Diploma

31.4 %

Bachelor's

30.0 %

Associate

18.6 %

Start to develop specific traffic control operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Voice Communications	47.16%
Air Traffic Control	40.02%
Ground Traffic	6.51%
FAA	1.29%
Emergency Situations	1.23%

Complete relevant traffic control operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New traffic control operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a traffic control operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real traffic control operator resumes.

Research traffic control operator duties and responsibilities

Coordinate and manage annual physical inventory as well as inventory valuation in accordance with Canadian GAAP.
Maintain airspace boundaries and issue traffic alerts as necessary, providing mission coordination assistance, and disseminate weather information as required.
Work closely with IAD ATCT and airlines to coordinate safe and efficient gate and non-movement area transitions.

Prepare your traffic control operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your traffic control operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a traffic control operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable traffic control operator resume templates

Build a professional traffic control operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your traffic control operator resume.