Controllers in these facilities guide aircraft as they take off or land and taxi from or to the gate. The public is most familiar with air traffic control towers at airports. Command Center controllers talk to controllers in other facilities and to airline traffic managers to come up with "master plans." All of the controllers in this facility are experts at one section of the airspace the facility controls, but they work closely together to ensure a smooth transition of all aircraft though the entire region.Īt the Air Traffic Control System Command Center, controllers plan air traffic for the entire country, taking into consideration how weather and other events, such as military maneuvers, will affect air traffic patterns. For example, Potomac TRACON handles air traffic going into and out of all the airports around Washington D.C., Baltimore, MD, and Richmond, VA. There are 21 en route centers that control aircraft flying through Unites States airspace.Īt approach control facilities, controllers guide aircraft as they approach, or leave, airspace surrounding airports to about 40 miles away.Ĭontrollers at most of these facilities handle approach control for many different airports in one facility. As aircraft fly across the country, pilots talk to controllers in successive en route centers. As aircraft fly over radar sites, the data from those radars is communicated digitally via telecommunications lines to controllers hundreds or even thousands of miles away.Ĭontrollers in en route facilities guide airplanes flying at high altitudes through large sections of airspace. They monitor radar screens to track aircraft. Most air traffic controllers today do their jobs without ever seeing the aircraft they guide. The Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, will transform the national airspace system from one that is based on ground radars to one that uses satellite technology. The FAA is working on a plan now to make the best use of new and existing technology, infrastructure, and employees to handle the doubling and tripling of air traffic expected in the coming decades. This includes incorporating new equipment and facilities as well as determining where that equipment and those facilities will be most effective. To keep it that way, FAA and its Air Traffic Organization work continuously to improve the system. The United States' air traffic control system is the safest in the world.
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