[John_W]

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore

Did it ever occur to you to wonder/care, why there was only ONE African-American controller...in the first place?

I NEVER HAD TO WONDER!! If he hadn't of been black, he would been washed out long ago, like I said, he was the worse controller I've ever seen. He had more conflicts than any of the other 57 controllers at Pensacola. AS TO YOUR QUESTION!! They require certain qualifications before you can even take the test!! Just like the Army required certain qualifications before you could select the school I needed a 130 or higher on my Armed Forces Qualification Exam before I could select air traffic controller in the Army. A 130 was actually higher than the required score to become a helicopter pilot.

To take the civil exam you needed 3 years air traffic controller expereince, that only comes from the military experience, or a commercial pilot's license or a 4 year college degree in any major. This is before you can even take the test, then you needed to score at least a 91 to make it onto the hiring register. Also, you could not be hired if you have reached your 31st birthday. It takes a bit of intelligence!!

After 1981 and 12,000 controller's were fired, they eliminated all those requirements. The only requirement to take the exam was 3 year's work experience anywhere, doing anything, and at any age. I knew a man who was a flight instructor and was 65 years old, and was hired to work at Washington Center.