air traffic control

noun

: the process or system by which the movements of aircraft are monitored and directed by ground personnel communicating with pilots by radio

improving the technology used for air traffic control

also : the personnel who operate an air traffic control system

Pilots would still have to file flight plans, which could be modified by air traffic control if they posed any safety hazards.

—David R. Hinson

Examples of air traffic control in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the administration would boost pay for trainees and streamline hiring to get more people started in the lengthy training process and into air traffic control towers that have faced staffing shortages for years. —Austin Denean, Baltimore Sun, 28 Feb. 2025

SpaceX has been selected to help overhaul the FAA’s air traffic control system, Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously announced. —Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 28 Feb. 2025

But labor and industry groups say even without cuts, air traffic control towers were already understaffed. —Susan Montoya Bryan, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2025

The air traffic control tower at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, Italy. —Claudio Lavanga, NBC News, 23 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for air traffic control

• amphibole
• asystole
• buttonhole
• casserole
• centriole
• decontrol
• glycerol
• metropole
• monopole
• multipole
• omeprazole
• oriole