Learn about the types of people who become air traffic controllers. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.


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Employment Type Mix, 2024

93% of air traffic controllers work in full-time roles while 7% work part-time.

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Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024

This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming an air traffic controller. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.

More men than women are interested in becoming air traffic controllers at a ratio of 2.95 to 1.

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Actual Gender Mix, 2024

33% of air traffic controllers are female and 67% are male.

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Gender Bias, 2024

This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being an air traffic controller and the actual gender mix of people in the career.

If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming an air traffic controller and those who end up becoming one.

In this case there are more men interested in becoming an air traffic controller than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.

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Ethnic Mix, 2019

The largest ethnic group of air traffic controllers are White, making up 64% of the population. The next highest segments are Black or African American and Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, making up 12% and 12% respectively.