If you’re a nervous flyer who panics at the thought of turbulence, then Channel 10’s new show Airport 24/7 about the life of an air traffic controller may actually settle your nerves. The life of an air traffic controller certainly isn’t easy, but ensuring that flights land and take off without a hitch is “so routine” for these men and women that it barely raises an eyebrow.
Melissa Lindsay has been an air traffic controller for 14 years and is one of the friendly faces you’ll come to love in this new doco-series. But she didn’t always have her sights set on this interesting profession, she was initially studying occupational therapy.
“It was, like, week one or two [of my occupational therapy course], and I already wanted to drop out,” Melissa tells Chattr.
The big pivot? A bit of reverse psychology. “Mum suggested air traffic control, and before I could say no, [my step dad] goes, ‘you won’t get in.’”
While it might seem harsh, Melissa had been watching her step dad work as an air traffic controller for years with very little interest.
“Initially I was like, I’m only doing it in spite of him. I’m still not going to do it. I’m just going to get in to prove him wrong,” she says.
But then Melissa started to look into it, and by day one of Air Traffic School, she was completely hooked. “It’s hands down the hardest thing I’ve ever done and the learning curve is steep, but I love the practical element of it.”
“I feel like most people go through the same thing growing up in Australia, follow the bouncing ball and you’ll finish school, you’ll get a grade, you’ll pick a uni course, you’ll go to uni. And so when I was at the uni part of following the ball, I was like, I don’t like the idea of writing 2000 words to describe something that I can show you in a minute.”
And that’s a key part of the appeal for anyone considering the career, because it involves real-time problem solving and having a flair for focus. “It’s not about a specific personality type,” Melissa explains. “I’ve worked all over the country with all sorts of people and everyone is so different. You don’t look at someone and be like, you’d be a good controller.”
“It really is a confidence thing,” she explains. “It’s a confidence to just come in and look at the big puzzle and say well I can solve this, and I can keep working and keep grinding, and keep applying to do your job.”
How common are close calls in air traffic control?
In terms of close calls though, it’s not as crazy as you might think. “Honestly, 99% of my job is routine. If plan A doesn’t happen for whatever reason, whether it’s initiated by air traffic or by a pilot, you’ve already considered Plan B, C, D and E.”
“We’ve got a crash button that activates all the services that we’d need. But from there you’re just following a checklist.”
With all this pressure, you’d think cameras and crew would only add to it. However, while Melissa was initially nervous in the first five minutes of filming, she quickly forgot the cameras were even there. “You just focus. Everything else fades out.”
Melissa explains that the job requires so much focus and attention that “phones are locked away downstairs”. And in the age of everyone being chronically online, pure focus without phones as a distraction seems quite refreshing.
“You just lock in, no matter what’s happening in your personal life, what’s happening away – you just kind of lock into your your job and the people around you.”
So is there anything that us regular people can learn from a high-pressure, high-stakes job like an air traffic controller? “Lean in,” laughs Melissa. “I think you’ll be better for it, because you’ll embrace it head on.”
“And if you’re just at a crossroads and you’re not sure what you want to do career wise, or you’re just a bit bored. Just come, come to air traffic. If you’re good, they’ll recruit you.”
Airport 24/7 comes to 10 and 10 Play on June 5 at 7.30pm
Find out more about a career in air traffic here.
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