Air Traffic Organization - Federal Aviation Administration

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1. Home
2. About FAA
3. Offices
4. Air Traffic Organization

In This Section

• Air Traffic Organization
• Leadership
• Air Traffic Services
  • Air Traffic Services Overview
  • Flight Plan Filing
  • Air Traffic Control Facilities
• Flight Program Operations
• Management Services
• Mission Support Services
• Program Management Organization
• Safety & Technical Training
• System Operations Services
  • System Operations Services Overview
  • Flight Service
  • Performance Analysis
  • ATO Security
  • NAS Operations
• Technical Operations
  • Technical Operations Overview
  • Air Traffic Control Facilities and Engineering Services
  • Navigation Programs
  • NAS Defense Programs

Air Traffic Organization

The Air Traffic Organization (ATO) is the operational arm of the FAA. It is responsible for providing safe and efficient air navigation services to 29.4 million square miles of airspace. This represents more than 17 percent of the world's airspace and includes all of the United States and large portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of America.

Our stakeholders are commercial and private aviation and the military. Our employees are the service providers – the 35,000 controllers, technicians, engineers and support personnel whose daily efforts keep aircraft moving safely through the nation's skies.

Aviation is essential to our way of life and is a driving force in our economy. Entire industries rely on the successful operation of the national airspace system. Aviation accounts for 11 million jobs and is responsible for more than 5 percent of our gross domestic product.

The U.S. air traffic system is experiencing the safest period in its history. This is the result of the ATO's robust safety culture. With the implementation of its proactive Safety Management System, the ATO is now able to identify precursors of risk before there is a safety problem.

Last updated: Monday, March 3, 2025