I love listening to air traffic control audio, as it can be mighty entertaining. If we’re being honest, most interactions that go viral involving New York air traffic controllers aren’t necessarily positive. So here’s an exception, to a degree I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed before.
ATC wants to know what everyone is up to!
VASAviation has air traffic control audio from shortly before Thanksgiving, which was recorded over a 40-minute period. This involves a New York TRACON controller, handling approaches and departures into the region.
Generally speaking, air traffic control communication is short and to the point, without much small talk. However, one air traffic controller had a bit of spare time, and decided to engage with pilots. The nearly 12 minutes of audio from VASAviation can’t help but put a huge smile on my face.
Between essential communications, the controller takes it upon himself to ask each pilot where they’re from, what they’re up to, what they’re doing for Thanksgiving, etc. And it’s not just a one-sided conversation, but he really engages with them in the most hilarious way possible. You can listen to the audio for yourself below, and I’ll just leave it at that.
It’s nice to see people enjoying their jobs
I’m sure some people will say that it’s irresponsible for the air traffic controller to have this non-essential communication on frequency. While I would agree in general, I find this whole interaction to be refreshing to listen to.
For one, it creates a great bond between pilots and air traffic controllers, when all too often, there’s a bit of tension there (like with “fuel management is your problem, not mine,” dude).
Honestly, the way the air traffic controller converses with pilots is so out of the ordinary that I think just about all the pilots on frequency couldn’t help but be downright confused and happy to have such a nice interaction, and you can tell that’s the case by how they “sign off” when they have to switch frequencies.
I am curious if this guy is always this friendly, if he was just feeling especially nice ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, or what. Because I feel like we would’ve known about him before if this was a consistent thing.
Bottom line
It’s not often that air traffic controllers in the New York area get attention for being overly friendly, so some recent air traffic control communication is pretty noteworthy. Kudos to this guy, what a fun and engaging person, in a world where all too many people just don’t try to put smiles on the faces of other people.
What do you make of this air traffic controller’s interactions?
