Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.

“Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.” is a core task performed by Air Traffic Controllers. Among the occupation's 23 rated tasks, workers place it 9th by importance (#15 most important). About 81% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Monitor operations to ensure adequate performance. in Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Monitor safety or security of work areas, facilities, or properties. in Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T3.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Inform pilots about nearby planes or potentially hazardous conditions, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, or visibility problems. · importance 4.9
• Issue landing and take-off authorizations or instructions. · importance 4.8
• Provide flight path changes or directions to emergency landing fields for pilots traveling in bad weather or in emergency situations. · importance 4.8
• Transfer control of departing flights to traffic control centers and accept control of arriving flights. · importance 4.8
• Alert airport emergency services in cases of emergency or when aircraft are experiencing difficulties. · importance 4.8
• Monitor or direct the movement of aircraft within an assigned air space or on the ground at airports to minimize delays and maximize safety. · importance 4.8
• Direct pilots to runways when space is available or direct them to maintain a traffic pattern until there is space for them to land. · importance 4.8
• Monitor aircraft within a specific airspace, using radar, computer equipment, or visual references. · importance 4.7
• Direct ground traffic, including taxiing aircraft, maintenance or baggage vehicles, or airport workers. · importance 4.7
• Contact pilots by radio to provide meteorological, navigational, or other information. · importance 4.6
• Maintain radio or telephone contact with adjacent control towers, terminal control units, or other area control centers to coordinate aircraft movement. · importance 4.6
• Determine the timing or procedures for flight vector changes. · importance 4.5
• Initiate or coordinate searches for missing aircraft. · importance 4.5
• Provide on-the-job training to new air traffic controllers. · importance 4.5

See all tasks on the Air Traffic Controllers page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-12741,
  title  = {Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-12741}
}