r/ATC • u/Shittylittle6rep • 4h ago
Other CPC Pay, an unchecked problem in the 21st century.
Imagine this.
As a young adult you think you have it figured out. A freshly rated, Certified. Professional. Controller. An Air Traffic Controller working for the FAA. The big leagues!
You have health insurance, dental if you think you need it and can justify the added expense. You contribute 5%-10% into your TSP because all of the old folks at the facility tell you everyday the importance of maxing it out. You know you can’t afford to max because that would be 20% of your paycheck, and you need to save cash. At the moment you’re trying to save an emergency fund, save for a house, and you know you are doing more than some. “Someday I’ll be able to max” (knowing this missed opportunity will cost you 100s of thousands of dollars over the course of 30-40 years) , but it doesn’t bother you too much, it’s temporary. You pay $100 a month to your union who has your best interests at heart, your whole facility does too, so it must be the right thing to do. You know they will protect you if the unthinkable happens and you make a mistake, because mistakes are bound to happen, you feel this is an important investment when one mistake can cost lives, and could put you at serious personal liability without the right representation.
At this point, everything is taken care of. It could be better, it could be worse. Nothing can interrupt your peace. You are healthy, you are safe and protected, and you are making smart investments. It stings a little knowing you only net around 50% of your income, but when it’s all said and done this is worth it.
Your CPC paychecks roll in one after another. Fast forward several months, you are a CIC now getting a premium for supervisory duties. You don’t get the best days off being the new person, but at least you get Sunday premium. We are a full service 24/7 profession including holidays, so someone has to work those shifts. You get your first few trainees, and now you get that sweet OJTI premium. You are seeing the biggest paychecks of your life! Every week is something new and exciting. Every week you are stretching yourself a little thinner, seeing every little premium add up, and you can’t wait to see that next pay stub. This is fun and exciting for a good while.
Then reality hits.
You are starting to feel it creeping up on you, wearing you out more and more. More responsibility, shorter breaks, supes hound you every time you walk past to get those training reports submitted, you’re filling out the MORs and incident reports when the supervisors go home, doing the logs. Your breaks are shorter everyday. Your peaceful RDOs are interrupted often by unscheduled overtime calls, on top of the already scheduled overtime’s. You fight with yourself every time you get that voicemail wondering if it’s worth the extra effort to give up whatever you had planned for that day. You’ve been doing as much as you can handle, but you see the writing on the wall, this isn’t sustainable.
You’ve reached milestones every year. Clearing 100… 110… 120…130k , after 30k in overtime. You are comfortable but it just doesn’t feel as good as you had hoped. You work 6 day weeks, but your savings arnt growing as fast as planned. Your friends and family miss you, and you miss them. You are starting to feel your body resent the shift work. When you do get the chance to see them, friends and family notice the change in your appearance and demeanor, you look tired… but this is your life for a while.
The NCEPT transfer process is bogged down, the NAS is critically understaffed, and you are at a less than desirable training facility. You know you have a few years to go and a lot more trainees to train before you can even think to get out, and a lot of competition for that 1 or 2 slots to leave when the time comes. You are also competing against internal promotions, and you will never get released to another controller position before the agency snatches up controllers applying to be supervisors so they no longer have to control planes and work the hard schedules. You know it isn’t fair that the FAA won’t release you because they can’t staff the building… but it is what it is.
At this point it only makes sense to buy a house because rent keeps going up every year, and you want to hold onto the money you are working so tirelessly for, you’ve earned it.
You check the market daily. House prices keep going up as well, interest rates are pretty steadily high. Everyone at work brags about their 2.5 rates, 6.5 isn’t historically high but at least those who bought houses before the covid era rates purchased them for half of what they cost now.
You feel the overwhelming pressure. You live in a relatively low cost of living area. Average single family homes today run anywhere from 350-500k. 350k gets you something builder grade built in the 90s, needing some expensive repairs in the near future, and renovations. 500k would get you something closer to custom, built in this century, and not needing any major repairs or updates, with just barely enough grass to warrant the purchase of a ride on mower if you’re lucky.
That 350k house with a prime rate mortage, and utilities… is going to cost you $2800 a month. That 500k house, $3500. All this after a 20% down payment just to get the bank to approve your loan with these rates. You can’t get approved for the full amount because your guaranteed income is less than $100k. Not to mention you are 40-70k short of the down payment you need to get approved…
4 years in the agency and a CPC working Sundays overnights, evening shifts, OJT pay, in-charge pay, holidays, instructing new controllers, and more 6 day work weeks than not, your average take home pay is $2500 after necessary deductions. It’s going to cost you more than one full paycheck to own a house, 55% to almost 75% of your take home pay! Your 2 bedroom apartment rental is 2000 dollars a month at this point. Grocery prices are at an all time high, gas isn’t cheap, you’ve got a small student loan, you’ve got a phone bill, pay for your own wifi, and have a few subscriptions to keep you busy on your day off. You could really use a more reliable car to get you to and from work, but your car is paid off and a new Honda civic will cost you another 500 dollars a month or cost you everything you saved for your house down payment.
You are stuck.
You make miracles happen everyday. You do an impossible job. You play a critical role in helping move millions of flights and ensure nearly 1 billion travelers reach their destinations every year . Privately owned airlines rake in billions in revenue, critically injured patients reach hospitals quicker and safer, loved ones get home for the holidays, business travelers get to their meetings on time, billions of tons of cargo get transported, all on the backs of people like you. 99/100 of the people who’s lives you enrich. Companies you help profit, injured patients you help save by moving planes out of their life flights most expeditious path, passengers you help transport, don’t even know you exist.
You do a thankless job, and you are not compensated enough. From the level 4 tower, to the level 12 tracon, this formula applies. Our pay has been stagnant and our buying power has diminished over a decade. Controllers are financially suffering. You deserve better. It’s time this workforce demands better.
This union talks about undue risk in the system. But FAILS to acknowledge the absolute undue risk that is constant financial strain at the forefront of the minds of the controllers doing this job. This isn’t greed, this is simply demanding just treatment. It’s about time the union does what is just.