Are there any current Trainees or controllers that can verify or discredit this information?
I just found this article from 08/2007 in Colorado, where they interviewed a spokesman for NATCA. http://www.csindy.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:21174
The FAA saves money by paying trainees less, but maintains that doesn't affect its recruiting. Others tell a different story. According to Church, a new trainee makes around $10,000 over the first six to eight months.
"Many of them have to sleep on couches in people's garages," Church says. "That is having an effect on their ability to hold on to these people."
The average salary for a new hire in on-the-job training is $31,700, according to a Department of Transportation report. While the FAA says a fully trained controller will make an average of $50,000 after one year and $94,000 after five, Church says the figures are exaggerated.
"Fifty thousand dollars is the highest you could possibly make; it's not the average after one year," he says. "Same with this nonsense about $90,000 after five years. "We're talking about places like Fremont, Calif., where the cost of living is the highest in the country, or New York. We're not talking about Colorado Springs. It's propaganda to try to show that we're overpaid."
Also, from a controller :
Tim Davis has seen trainees struggling. Davis is a controller at Colorado Springs' air traffic control tower and a representative for NATCA. His facility has been flooded with trainees, but he doesn't expect all to finish the program. "I have two trainees who have to have a second job just to make ends meet," he says.
I just found this article from 08/2007 in Colorado, where they interviewed a spokesman for NATCA. http://www.csindy.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:21174
The FAA saves money by paying trainees less, but maintains that doesn't affect its recruiting. Others tell a different story. According to Church, a new trainee makes around $10,000 over the first six to eight months.
"Many of them have to sleep on couches in people's garages," Church says. "That is having an effect on their ability to hold on to these people."
The average salary for a new hire in on-the-job training is $31,700, according to a Department of Transportation report. While the FAA says a fully trained controller will make an average of $50,000 after one year and $94,000 after five, Church says the figures are exaggerated.
"Fifty thousand dollars is the highest you could possibly make; it's not the average after one year," he says. "Same with this nonsense about $90,000 after five years. "We're talking about places like Fremont, Calif., where the cost of living is the highest in the country, or New York. We're not talking about Colorado Springs. It's propaganda to try to show that we're overpaid."
Also, from a controller :
Tim Davis has seen trainees struggling. Davis is a controller at Colorado Springs' air traffic control tower and a representative for NATCA. His facility has been flooded with trainees, but he doesn't expect all to finish the program. "I have two trainees who have to have a second job just to make ends meet," he says.