Studies of Next Generation Air Traffic Control Specialists: Why Be an Air Traffic Controller?

Details

• Creators:
  Cannon, Melanie M. ; Broach, Dana
• Corporate Creators:
  Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Air traffic controllers
  • Personnel management
  • Selection and appointment
  • Recruiting
  • Generational differences, Recruitment, Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Millennials, Occupational choice, Air traffic control specialists, Salary, Benefits, Job security
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/AM-11/12
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Abstract:
  With phrases such as “Managing Millennials” (Gimbel, 2007), descriptions of generational differences are a staple in the ; human resources (HR) trade press and corporate training. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) offers a course in ; managing generational differences through its Center for Management Education and Leadership. Most management tips ; and descriptions of generational differences are anecdotal, prescriptive and impressionistic. Few empirical studies are ; available, and those that do exist are based on cross-sectional surveys, confounding the effects of age and career progression ; with generational differences. Yet the generational comparisons could be important to occupational recruitment; what ; appealed to one generation might not appeal to another. For example, the job security and stability that appealed to “Baby ; Boomers” might be less important to “Gen-X” and “Millennials,” who are said to be looking to “make a difference” with ; some level of “work-family balance” (Partnership for Public Service, 2009, undated). The purpose of the current study was ; to compare the factors influencing occupational choice in two distinct generations of employees in the FAA’s highly visible ; air traffic control specialist (ATCS) occupation. We hypothesized that factors such as job security, benefits, and pay would ; be less important to the “Next Generation” of controllers, recruited from Gen-X and Millennials, than to the “Post-Strike” ; generation (largely Baby Boomers) and non-material factors such as the opportunity to benefit others would be more ; important to the Next Generation of controllers. Method. The responses of controllers hired in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 ; (n=955) were compared to those of controllers hired in FY1986 through FY1992 (n=13,227) following the 1981 ; Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike. The two groups did not overlap in age or birth year. The ; new controllers in both generations took the Biographical Questionnaire (BQ) for research purposes while at the FAA ; Academy for initial occupational training. The BQ includes 14 items asking to what degree material factors such as pay and ; non-material factors such as the opportunity to benefit others were important to their choice of the controller occupation. ; The proportions favorably endorsing each factor were compared with a standard Z-test of proportions. The rank-order of ; the factors in each generation was also compared using Spearman’s rho. Results. Contrary to our hypothesis, job security, ; benefits, and pay were more important to Next Generation than to Post-Strike controllers. However, the overall rank-order ; correlation of the factors by generation was high (Spearman’s rho =.824, p < .001), suggesting a shift in degree rather than ; one of kind between generations. Discussion. The young Next Generation controllers hired by the FAA did not conform to ; the public stereotype; job security, benefits, and pay were just as important to them, if not more, than to the previous ; generation. This might be an effect of economic insecurity engendered by the 2007-2010 financial crisis in the U.S. The ; similar rank-ordering of factors influencing occupational choice suggests more similarity between generations than might be ; expected on the basis of the HR trade press. Implications for agency recruitment are considered in closing.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/23093/dot_23093_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 395.97 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection ; FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e7bb6380719eb79b52c1144a44f5fd1a902dc1e2c4bc3863c46e642323f310b6d34296efa5cc90cc39d663310a1521407025dbddd96a19ff7ea5541b22237af6