How Facility Levels Work

What sets a facility’s level

A level comes from one number, the facility’s Traffic Count Index. It isn’t a measure of annual traffic: the contract measures how congested a facility is, and for how long. Four steps build it:

1. 1

   Count the busiest hours

   Take the busiest 1,830 hours of the past 365 days, half the days of the year at 10 hours each, and average the aircraft handled per hour.

2. 2

   Weight the harder work

   At a tower, an IFR arrival or departure counts 1.5, a VFR one 1.0 and an IFR overflight 1.25. At a center, an overflight counts 1.0, one that climbs or descends 4,000 feet or more on the way through 1.5, and a VFR advisory 0.5. Crossing or converging runways multiply a terminal’s count by up to 1.15.

3. 3

   Add for complexity

   Military traffic, the mix of airline, general aviation and air taxi traffic, Class B (+25%) or Class C (+10%) airspace, high terrain (+5%), bordering foreign airspace (up to +4.5%) and busy airports nearby all add to the count. Centers also add for oceanic and over-water traffic, how densely the airspace is used, and how long flights stay in it.

4. 4

   Reward sustained traffic

   Multiply by 1 plus the ratio of the next busiest 1,830 hours to the busiest. A facility that stays nearly as busy past its peak gets close to ×2; one with a short peak, closer to ×1.

The result is the Traffic Count Index, and the facility’s level is the highest breakpoint it reaches for its type of facility. An Up/Down’s index is its tower and approach control indexes added together.

From Appendix A, Parts I–III and the Sustained Traffic Index.

What each level takes

Each type of facility has its own scale: a Level 12 tower needs an index of 465, a Level 12 center 1,550. Just below every breakpoint sits a buffer. A facility only starts down toward the next level when its index falls below the buffer, not the breakpoint, so a small dip doesn’t cost a level.

Breakpoints and buffers from Appendix A, Appendix 1. Bars show how many facilities are at each level as of November 2026; open a level to see them. Full list: FAA facilities.

Moving up, moving down

The rules aren’t mirror images. Going up takes three months above the line and is backdated. Going down takes six months below a lower line and isn’t.

Temporary swings don’t count either way. A runway closure, construction or a labor dispute can pull the index down, and an air show can push it up, but the contract says a level shouldn’t change over something temporary.

From Appendix A, Administration of the Standard.

What a level change does to pay

An upgrade

A certified controller’s Basic Pay goes up 6% for each level, capped at the new band’s maximum. If 6% doesn’t reach the new band’s minimum, pay is raised to the minimum. Here is what that means at each end of the 2026 CPC bands:

Trainees and developmentals get the same 6% a level, up to their band’s maximum, and their later pay steps are reset to the new level’s.

A downgrade

Controllers already there don’t take a pay cut. Those at the facility when the decrease takes effect, and transfers already approved by then, keep the higher level’s CPC band for two years. After that their Basic Pay is kept, and anyone above the new band’s maximum gets each annual increase half as a raise and half as a lump sum. Controllers who arrive afterward are paid on the new band.

For example, a CPC at the top of the Level 10 band ($160,656) at a facility that drops to Level 9 keeps the Level 10 band for two years. After that, their pay stays above the Level 9 maximum of $139,698, so their raises come half in Basic Pay and half as a lump sum.

If developmentals at a downgraded facility haven’t certified within those two years, either side can ask for a joint review of the training delay under a 2012 agreement the contract kept (Appendix P-7).

From Article 108, Section 10 (increase) and Section 11 (decrease). Pay figures are the 2026 CPC pay bands before locality pay; see the 2026 pay scale.

Appeals

How the formula was applied at a facility can be appealed; the formula itself can’t. Any employee can start one through the facility, but it’s filed by the facility manager and the NATCA Facility Representative together. If either one disagrees, they have 15 days to write down why, and that goes in with the appeal.

1. The appeal goes in writing, by certified mail, to the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, with a copy to NATCA’s Executive Vice President.
2. Within 15 days, a two-person committee is formed, one from NATCA and one from Air Traffic management. It reports within 60 days. Its decisions have to be mutual, and they’re final.
3. If the committee can’t agree, either filer can ask within 30 days for a board of an FAA representative, a NATCA representative and an arbitrator. The arbitrator is picked within 30 days, the board meets within 90, and it decides within 30 days of the hearing.
4. If an appeal wins a higher level, it’s put in place within two pay periods.

From Appendix A, Appeal Process.