Short Final: Pay Grade

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 03:02 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

An Atlanta Center air traffic controller humorously told a Delta flight that runway information was "above my pay grade."
The controller then added a sarcastic remark about earning significantly more than the Approach controllers who would provide that specific information.
Another pilot's interjection suggested that such humorous deflections or internal controller pay dynamic jokes are a common occurrence.

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Overheard over South Carolina, with the busy Atlanta arrivals streaming overhead:

Delta 1234: “Center, Delta 1234 flight level 230.”

Atlanta Center: “Delta 1234, welcome. Cross OZZI at 12,000 and 250 knots.”

Delta 1234: “Cross OZZI at 12,000 and 250 knots. And what runway can we expect?”

Atlanta Center: “You’ll have to ask Approach on the next frequency. That’s above my pay grade … even though I actually make quite a lot more than they do.”

Unknown airplane: “So it happens to you, too?”

John Zimmerman
Cincinnati, Ohio