Public service provided for the purpose of maintaining the safe and orderly flow of air traffic

Air traffic control

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.  (April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Air traffic control" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR  (April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Air traffic control

Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based <a href="/en/Air_traffic_controller" title="Air traffic controller" class="wl">air traffic controllers</a> (also called control tower operators (CTO)) who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled <a href="/en/Airspace" title="Airspace" class="wl">airspace</a>, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information and other support for pilots.<a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Public service provided for the purpose of maintaining the safe and orderly flow of air traffic</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1033289096" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}</style>


<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1097763485" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}html.client-js body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .mbox-text-span{margin-left:23px!important}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1086701767" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .multiple-issues-text{width:95%;margin:0.2em 0}.mw-parser-output .multiple-issues-text>.mw-collapsible-content{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox{border:none;border-collapse:collapse;background-color:transparent;margin:0 0 0 1.6em!important;padding:0!important;width:auto;display:block}body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox.mbox-small-left{font-size:100%;width:auto;margin:0}.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-text{padding:0!important;margin:0!important}.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-text-span{display:list-item;line-height:1.5em;list-style-type:disc}.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-image,.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-imageright,.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-empty-cell,.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .hide-when-compact{display:none}</style>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg"><img loading="lazy" alt="New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg/220px-New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="534" data-file-height="800" data-file-type="bitmap" height="330" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg/330px-New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg/440px-New-MIAL-ATC-Tower.jpg 2x"></a><figcaption>Air traffic control tower of <a href="/en/Mumbai_International_Airport" title="Mumbai International Airport" class="mw-redirect wl">Mumbai International Airport</a> (India)</figcaption></figure>
Air traffic controllers monitor the location of aircraft in their assigned airspace by <a href="/en/Radar" title="Radar" class="wl">radar</a> and communicate with the pilots by <a href="/en/Radio" title="Radio" class="wl">radio</a>.<a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a> To prevent collisions, ATC enforces <a href="/en/Separation_(air_traffic_control)" title="Separation (air traffic control)" class="mw-redirect wl">traffic separation</a> rules, which ensure each aircraft maintains a minimum amount of empty space around it at all times. In many[<a href="/en/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify" class="wl">how?</a>] countries, ATC provides services to all private, military, and commercial aircraft operating within its airspace.[<a href="/en/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" class="wl">citation needed</a>] Depending on the type of flight and the class of airspace, ATC may issue instructions that pilots are required to obey, or advisories (known as flight information in some countries) that pilots may, at their discretion, disregard. The <a href="/en/Pilot_in_command" title="Pilot in command" class="wl">pilot in command</a> is the final authority for the safe operation of the aircraft and may, in an emergency, deviate from ATC instructions to the extent required to maintain safe operation of their aircraft.<a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;">[3]</a>

Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers ) who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information and other support for pilots. Air traffic controllers monitor the location of aircraft in their assigned airspace by radar and communicate with the pilots by radio. 