Watch The Head of Air Traffic Control at Heathrow Airport Explain How The Operations Work

Air traffic control drives our hobby and keeps the skies moving. One of the largest European hubs, Heathrow, in London moves 75,711,130 people a year and 474,963 aircraft movements according to 2016 statistics. The air traffic control tower oversees all those movements and has some of the most skilled air traffic controllers in Europe.

Typical days as an air traffic controller start by getting your daily briefing about any changes or operational procedures. Their shifts usually last about 8 hours and are only completed 90 to 120 minutes at a time with a mandatory break. This break is a way to protect the air traffic controllers from getting tunnel vision and to keep them focused on moving so many planes.

It’s always interesting to get insight behind the scenes of the things that we do on a day-to-day basis. Without air traffic control we would be flying around in the skies without any protections and no one to tell us where to go or what to watch out for. This industry is incredibly interesting and works to keep us safe flying through the air on a daily basis.