US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

chasingthewind

Some interesting takes on Reddit Aviation https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1vlnlq9/faa_hires...

Neywiny

No mention of what games they're playing? Also no mention of when the NYC ones were told to move to Pennsylvania or be fired? Interestingly also cbs's article https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/new-york-philadelphia-a...

comrade1234

I had a coworker from the democratic republic of Congo who insisted that if he was back home he would do ok fighting because he played lots of first-person shooters. I mean he was 100% serious about this. We argued about it. He got a commitment from our employer to pay his undergrad tuition. But he disappeared one day, probably went home to fight and die. I search for him every now and then but I think he's gone. I think his naïveté is equal to this policy.

rawgabbit

Only 10% make it through the first week? At least the weed out process is quick.

_--__--__

ATCs are chronically understaffed in a way that endangers all of us, and the FAA has been under scrutiny for their hiring practices for over a decade https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39184451 It's equally plausible to me that this is an example of "we need to try something and this is something" or just deflection from the prior criticism.

monster_truck

Have played competitive fps games with a couple of ATC dudes for almost half of my life now. They're all very sensible, level headed people who get justifiably upset when you do not do the procedurally and objectively correct (lowest risk, highest percentage) thing to win in a given situation and will calmly spell it all out every single time.

scrapcode

When I got interested in flying I took to flight simulators and the VATSIM network[0], as I had seen mentioned multiple times that the radio work can be a difficult aspect of flying to pick up on when flying out of a towered/busy field. By the time I started, I was comfortable on the radio and pre-flight checks, and this seemed to gained quite a bit of favor from my CFI. I'm not saying it made me a well-versed pilot, but simulating these situations can do a lot to get one going. [0] https://vatsim.net/

Glyptodon

Are they focusing on RTS players with high APM?

paxys

Why are they saying “video gamers” as if it is a job title? Qualification for ATC is to be under 31 and the job is male dominated. No shit everyone they hire plays video games.

mannyv

Just like the old rumors of Missile Command players being recruited for NORAD etc. Really, there are people that play ATC games for fun.

anigbrowl

I think the headline should have emphasized that they were hired as trainees . I am not a fan of the Trump admin but Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, is one of the few people in it that I think steers clear of politics and prioritizes doing a good job. A horrible air traffic disaster that occurred a couple of weeks into the new administration threw him into the spotlight while he was still getting settled in, and it seems like he took the lesson to heart. I actually think gamers are a good population to recruit from because you do want people that internalize cognitive abstractions, maintain focus for long periods, juggle competing priorities etc. But one can also imagine some less attractive gamer stereotypes like poor emotional containment or cognitive saturation leading to a rage quit. It will be interesting to see what the attrition rate will be like for this cohort vs others.

Waterluvian

What could possibly go wrong? https://youtube.com/shorts/OT7yVBF1EOQ?si=TkLfjrvpsdIyBm7X

pclowes

From a very naïve perspective, why isn’t air traffic control a solved problem? Would love to be educated here, but it seems like there are just not that many moving pieces per airport (<10,000) and all of them are tagged with transponders, etc. And a human in the loop with respect to coordination might be the biggest source of risk. This all seems like queuing theory and collision avoidance, which are very well done by computers.

kortilla

Idiotic headline. This is a trainee pipeline. The headline is meant to mislead you into thinking they hired some people based on video games and they are now air traffic controllers.

themadturk

I don't know why hiring gamers for ATC would be any different than hiring anyone else to do it. There's extensive training required, and I don't think it's something you can get a college degree for anyway. Maybe there's some advantage for gamers, but I don't see where it would be all that important.

davidfekke

This probably explains why I saw the Ghost from Pacman trying to eat my plane when I was making that ILS approach for runway 32 Right.

ytch

There is a ATC game from Japan: BOKUKAN (I am an Air Traffic Controller): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Traffic_Controller_(series...

ksymph

To be clear, they began a recruitment ad campaign targeting gamers, and ended up meeting their hiring goal of 2,000+. It's not like they pulled 2,000 gamers off the street and stuck them in ATC towers. Better link (.gov): https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transpor... > With only about 25 percent of controllers holding a traditional college degree, this effort is focused on reaching talented young people pursuing alternative career paths, many of whom are active in gaming. Feedback from controller exit interviews reinforces this, with several controllers pointing to gaming as an influence on their ability to think quickly, stay focused, and manage complexity.