Do video game players make ideal recruits to be air traffic controllers? The FAA is targeting gamers directly in its new hiring push.
The Federal Aviation Administration is officially recruiting video game players to be part of the next generation of air traffic controllers. Part of that push has been accompanied by a new ad campaign aimed at gamers that uses video game footage and Xbox sound effects to make the pitch that players can earn a six-figure salary by applying their in-game skills to the real world.
Fun fact: there’ve been a bunch of ATC simulator games back in the eighties to mid-nineties, but the most successful ongoing series seems to be ‘Air Traffic Controller’, which is of course Japanese. Aside from Windows, it notably includes versions for PSP, DS, 3DS, and several mobile ports that are probably only released in Japan.
Supposedly the series includes layouts of real airports, mostly Japanese ones.
A fun game is also Mini Airways, which also deals with managing the takeoff and landing of planes. According to this Game, I am NOT qualified for that job.
One would think that this game is from the same developer as ‘Mini Metro’ and ‘Mini Motorways’, but nope. 🤔