“Air traffic control, please respond. We aren’t able to see the landing strip and we might crash!”

“Sounds like a skill issue. Git gud.”

How is "gamer" defined? Someone who has played video games? Did they also hire 2000 "readers?"

In the past I was expecting something clever when the title is us does x. Now it's just like oh what incompetent shit are they now trying.

How many "lives" are they given?

"We cannot allow you to protect your data."

so i have a little bit of insight into this whole thing. i got a few friends who are controllers and i've been in the hiring process myself for nearly 2 years. to save you the history of the hiring process of the last few years: long. duffy "supercharged" the hiring process last year, making it take a lot less time than it used to (months instead of years).

anyway, we don't actually know if 2000 "gamers" got hired from this latest bid, they're just saying that because they were catering to gamers with the advertisement (which was majority genAI content lmao). if you applied to the bid, you're automatically a gamer.

now a few things on what this means for us and the safety of aviation. the minimum requirements are as follows: do you have a pulse? can you obtain a security clearance? do you not have any medical problems that will make you unfit to do the job? have you not taken any federally illegal drugs in the last few years? can you do a few basic math problems? if you can answer yes to all of these questions, you get hired. that's what the 2000 number is.

when you get hired by the FAA, those 2000 people don't immediately get to go control traffic at the busiest airport. all ATC candidates must go to the FAA's training academy in OKC for 3-4 months to learn how to control traffic. it's designed to train someone who doesn't even know what a plane is to the basics of controlling traffic, phraseology and proper procedures and all. not everyone makes it through the academy and is a large percent of the attrition rate for applicants.

only after all that do they go to a real facility, but not like LAX. and then they learn some more before touching live traffic.

so overall, i'm not super worried about it. only the people who are actually capable will get though and even then, it will be well over a year before they are controlling on their own if they don't fail training at their facility

"Seattle Approach, Cherokee 8121K, 20 southwest of Seattle VOR at 7,500, en route Arlington, request transit Class Bravo airspace."
-"LMAO, shut the fuck up *****. Why don't you get gud at being a pilot instead of being carried under tower from support every time looser?"

Don't forget to quicksave

Please at let be the ones that are the hardcore MS flight sim nerds, they do have many who take it super serious at least.

Cool they “hired” but if they fail the tests then they won’t be hired. Which is the main issue. People fail out of the school, because it’s hard and stressful.

Plane Landed!

style: 4500

substance: 4500

speed: 4000

civilian health: 5000 PERFECT

rings collected: 5000 PERFECT

black box: INTACT

Grade: A

"A?! A?? wtf do you even want!? WHERE'S MY GODDAMN S-RANK!?"

throws controller

Bunch of air traffic controllers blaming their teammates for EVERY crash incoming

Leroooooooy Jenkins!!

"Tea baging": is a maneuver or stage during the landing of an aircraft. Also "landing flare" and "round out".

I found a glitch. When you crash a few planes on the other runways, all the traffic has to go over a single one. Still the same traffic and points but way easier to manage

Pilot successfully landed a plane in a high risk situation

"WOW, GG GUYS, GG"

"Why isn't quick load working?"

Just respawn if you die.

Way back in the day there used to a game called Tracon, which was an air traffic control simulator. I played it a few tells and from those experiences I knew that ATC was never going to be a path for me. I caused so many midair collisions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRACON_(series)

I'm glad I don't know more about aviation and human nature so I don't have to worry about this as much as it probably warrants.

People who are used to not facing real consequences, directing 200-ton metal tubes full of humans through the air above us?

Probably fine.

Being good at some computer games (not just flight simulators) is helpful in getting through the recruitment process. I'd say a mix of having good orientation and implementing and executing a strategy is required at the very least (and sticking to it, which I didn't do lol), which you definitely get/practice in games.

However the actual training process can cut those numbers dramatically, but I wouldn't be surprised if they ignored obvious red flags with some of these 'gamers' just to pump those numbers up.

Fortunately I don't need to fly anywhere anytime soon

Does the game allow cheats or the ability to spawn natural disasters? I want simcity levels of control.

"Bio break guys. Can we just pause the air traffic for 10 mins?"

This has "what could go wrong?" written all over it