Studies of Next Generation Air Traffic Control Specialists: Why Be an Air Traffic Controller?
Year: 2011
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: With phrases such as “Managing Millennials” (Gimbel, 2007), descriptions of generational differences are a staple in the\nhuman resources (HR) trade press and corporate training. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) offers a course in\nmanaging generational differences through its Center for Management Education and Leadership. Most management tips\nand descriptions of generational differences are anecdotal, prescriptive and impressionistic. Few empirical studies are\navailable, and those that do exist are based on cross-sectional surveys, confounding the effects of age and career progression\nwith generational differences. Yet the generational comparisons could be important to occupational recruitment; what\nappealed to one generation might not appeal to another. For example, the job security and stability that appealed to “Baby\nBoomers” might be less important to “Gen-X” and “Millennials,” who are said to be looking to “make a difference” with\nsome level of “work-family balance” (Partnership for Public Service, 2009, undated). The purpose of the current study was\nto compare the factors influencing occupational choice in two distinct generations of employees in the FAA’s highly visible\nair traffic control specialist (ATCS) occupation. We hypothesized that factors such as job security, benefits, and pay would\nbe less important to the “Next Generation” of controllers, recruited from Gen-X and Millennials, than to the “Post-Strike”\ngeneration (largely Baby Boomers) and non-material factors such as the opportunity to benefit others would be more\nimportant to the Next Generation of controllers. Method. The responses of controllers hired in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009\n(n=955) were compared to those of controllers hired in FY1986 through FY1992 (n=13,227) following the 1981\nProfessional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike. The two groups did not overlap in age or birth year. The\nnew controllers in both generations took the Biographical Questionnaire (BQ) for research purposes while at the FAA\nAcademy for initial occupational training. The BQ includes 14 items asking to what degree material factors such as pay and\nnon-material factors such as the opportunity to benefit others were important to their choice of the controller occupation.\nThe proportions favorably endorsing each factor were compared with a standard Z-test of proportions. The rank-order of\nthe factors in each generation was also compared using Spearman’s rho. Results. Contrary to our hypothesis, job security,\nbenefits, and pay were more important to Next Generation than to Post-Strike controllers. However, the overall rank-order\ncorrelation of the factors by generation was high (Spearman’s rho =.824, p .001), suggesting a shift in degree rather than\none of kind between generations. Discussion. The young Next Generation controllers hired by the FAA did not conform to\nthe public stereotype; job security, benefits, and pay were just as important to them, if not more, than to the previous\ngeneration. This might be an effect of economic insecurity engendered by the 2007-2010 financial crisis in the U.S. The\nsimilar rank-ordering of factors influencing occupational choice suggests more similarity between generations than might be\nexpected on the basis of the HR trade press. Implications for agency recruitment are considered in closing.\n
Source: ROSA P
Authors: Melanie M Cannon, Dana Broach
Language: English
Subfield: Life-span and Life-course Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1247518040