SAN

San Diego Tower

FAA Control Tower San Diego, California

Facility Information

Facility Overview
Identifier SAN
Facility Name San Diego Tower
Airport Name San Diego Intl
Type Tower
Leveli Level 8 History
Core 30 Airporti Yes
Airspace & Operations
Hours of Operationi 0000-2359 (always open)
Airspace Class Class B
Approach/Departure SCT
Overlying ARTCC ZLA
Airport Diagram View Airport Diagram (PDF)

Salary Information

2026 Pay for San Diego Tower

Career Leveli Hourly Min. Hourly Max. Salary Min. Salary Max.i
CPC $63.15 $85.25 $131,785 $177,910
D3 $55.29 $63.15 $115,384 $131,785
D2 $47.43 $55.29 $98,979 $115,384
AG $31.71 $31.71 $66,175 $66,175
Includes everything except premium pay.

ATC pay has stalled over the past decade. Marangos & Brown are on a mission to increase pay.

Pay Factors
Facility Leveli Level 8
Locality Area San Diego
Locality Payi 33.72%
Controller Incentive Pay (CIP)i 7.00%
Local Affordability
Cost of Living Indexi 111.9 (11.9% above avg)
Cost-Adjusted CPC Mini $117,780

Staffing and Training

Staffing Information, June 2026
CPCs on Boardi 22 CPCs
CPC Target (CWP)i 23 CPCs
Current Staffingi 91%
↳ Est. Trainee Certifications+ 4.9
↳ Committed Inbounds+ 2
↳ Temporary Inbounds+ 1
↳ Projected Retirements/Losses- 0.7
↳ Academy Graduates2
↳ Developmental 21
↳ Developmental 31
↳ CPC-IT 2 (Transfer)1
↳ CPC-IT 3 (Transfer)1
Training Information, June 2026
Training Time (Avg)i 0.63 years
↳ New Hires 0.8 years
↳ Transfers (CPC-IT) 0.52 years
Training Success Rate (Avg)i 81%
↳ New Hires 91%
↳ Transfers (CPC-IT) 76%
Travel Days from Academyi 3 days

Historical Trends

SAN Staffing Percentages

SAN Personnel Counts

SAN Training Metrics

NCEPT

NCEPT manages controller-requested transfers between FAA facilities.

Eligibility & Staffing, June 2026
Staffing Sourcei Academy Sourced
TSL (One Training Time)i 87.58%
Gaining Targeti 96.28%
Possible Gainsi 0
Primary Releases Avail.i 1
Secondary Releases Avail.i 0
Transfer Activity
Releases, Past 3 Yrs 0
↳ Standardi 0
↳ Priority/Otheri 0
Gains, Past 3 Yrsi 13
ERR Demand History
Priority / Draft Order
Mar 2026
#216
Inbound ERRs on File
Feb 2026
5
Employees with Outbound ERRs
Feb 2026
4 (18.2%)

Demand Trends

NCEPT Priority

Traffic

May 2025 - April 2026 (12 Months)
Tower Operations 253,179 operations/year
Average Daily Operations 694 operations/day
Peer Group Median
(Lvl 8 Tower)
268,191 operations/year
Relative Workloadi -5.6% vs peer median

Traffic History

Administration

Organizational Structure
Service Area Western
District Los Angeles
HR Region Western Pacific

Nearest Facilities

NZY North Island NAS (Halsey Fld) DoD 3 mi
MYF Montgomery Tower FAA 6 mi
NKX Miramar MCAS (Joe Foss Fld) DoD 10 mi
SCT Southern California TRACON FAA 12 mi
NRS Imperial Beach Tower DoD 12 mi
SEE Gillespie Tower FAA 14 mi
SDM Brown Tower FCT 17 mi
RNM Ramona Tower FCT 26 mi
CRQ Palomar Tower FAA 28 mi
NFG Camp Pendleton MCAS (Munn Fld) DoD 40 mi