Airservices is a government-owned corporation providing safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible services to the aviation industry. We manage air traffic operations for around 75 million passengers on more than three million flights every year.

Profile of a tower controller

Phil Mulhall

Hi, my name is Phil Mulhall and I would like to give you an insight into what it is like to work as an air traffic controller in a tower.

I have worked as an air traffic controller for seven years.  My first tower posting was Bankstown Tower.  After two years at Bankstown I then transferred to Canberra Tower where I worked for another year.  I currently work in Sydney Tower.

Sydney Tower is a radar tower like Melbourne or Canberra Tower.  Tower controllers also work at regional non-radar towers such as Alice Springs or LauncestonTower. The third tower environment is general aviation towers which are located near major cities to facilitate the training of pilots and light aircraft operations, such as Jandakot or Bankstown Tower.

All air traffic controllers are required to provide a service which varies according to the type of airspace they look after. At Sydney, I am required to prevent collisions between aircraft in the air, sometimes by asking pilots to sight each other and at other times by keeping them at different levels or by using different runways. Aircraft must also be kept apart on the ground. This is done by issuing specific taxi instructions from the time they leave their parking position and by not allowing more than one aircraft on the runway at the same time.

As a tower controller I also provide pilots with weather information, general information about the aerodrome and a search and rescue service which may involve pushing the crash alarm to alert our aviation rescue and fire fighting service or notifying local police if other emergency services are required.

The types of aircraft that operate from Sydney Airport range from small helicopters and light aircraft to the largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.  The international terminal at Sydney Airport also hosts more than 30 different airlines, airlines from Asia, America, and Europe.

Each airport has its own unique characteristics such as the aerodrome layout, the number of runways and taxiways and the variety of aircraft activity that is occurring. My work environment presents different problems every day and there are always a number of ways of solving those problems.

So, do you like being close to the action and enjoy a challenge? Are you able to react quickly to changing situations? Do you work well in a small group or alone? Consider joining Airservices as a tower controller. The view from the tower is different every day.