LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Air traffic controllers are in demand, and Harry Reid International Airport hasn't been immune to the issue.
Thursday morning, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto joined Federal Aviation Administration officials for a tour of the control tower facility at the Las Vegas airport, noting that she's on board for a push for more new recruits.
"It starts right here," Cortez Masto said before the tour. "Our air traffic controllers, the men and women who work here, are an essential part of ensuring that tourists that come through here are safe and secure."
At Harry Reid International, about 250 people work at the controller tower facility, which is next to the airport's Terminal 3. They work in shifts, around the clock, in two main areas, one about 350 feet off the ground at the top of the tower, and the other in a "dark radar approach control" room.
Tony Borgert, a Las Vegas controller for the FAA and the leader of the local National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the lack of talent is a problem all over the country. In fact, there are about 1,000 fewer air traffic controllers nationwide this year when compared to a decade ago, according to the FAA.
"It's an unsustainable model," Borgert said.
The pay for an air traffic controller, however, isn't bad at all. After being trained — a process that can take up to three years — a controller at Harry Reid International starts out making about $120,000 per year.
And the FAA is about to make a big push to recruit more people. Next month, it will have an "entry level" hiring window.
For more information about that, and for more information about what an air traffic controller does, visit www.faa.gov/be-atc.
