Freddie Green is an Air Traffic Manager in Miami, Florida. As an Air Traffic Manager, he leads a team that serves many Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations in and out of Miami, including Center, Approach\/Departure TRACON, and Tower. He\u2019s also the National President of the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE), where he promotes aviation diversity nationwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before he joined ATC, Green wanted to be a pilot. But, after seeing the cost and, having no pilot mentors in the industry, he decided to look at other opportunities. He enrolled in the Air Traffic Initiative Program at the College of Aeronautics (now Vaughn College), where he started his ATC career. After graduating as a Certified Professional Controller (CPC), he worked his way up the ladder, eventually reaching his senior position at the Miami facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an African American, born in Jamaica, Green noticed the lack of diversity during his training. \u201cIf you are African American,\u201d he says, \u201cit\u2019s not uncommon to be the only one in your facility.\u201d However, this did not phase him much during training. After training, however, a fellow African American colleague approached him and said \u201cyou know, they wanted you to fail.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While race should not play a role in ATC training, the reality, says Green, can be more complicated. ATC is \u201cpredominantly white and male,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not as diverse as we\u2019d like it to be.\u201d Overall, African Americans represent 3% of the controller workforce. Echoing similar statements from many pilot trainees, he says that, in some instances, \u201cthe benchmark [a trainee must attain] is sometimes constantly shifted\u201d for minority trainees; whereas a non-minority trainee may simply meet standards and proceed on through the remainder of training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Green, an ATC career is one of professionalism, camaraderie, and support. Controllers realize the critical role their jobs play in aviation safety and frequently work odd hours, including holidays and weekends. Green explains that often a controller will see their fellow controllers more than they see their own family, which develops a \u201cculture of assisting and helping out\u201d fellow teammates. It\u2019s also a career of pride, as controllers strive to perfect the art of coordinating the daily movements of hundreds of airplanes carrying tens of thousands of passengers in and out of Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As National President of the NBCFAE, Green strives to help build a more diverse workforce in aviation. \u201cWe need to get qualified candidates from different backgrounds,\u201d he explains. Many people, he says, make the mistake of thinking that \u201cthey can\u2019t do it\u201d when really they can. \u201cWe need to promote these jobs through career days, through STEM, and through community outreach.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, says Green, we need to support those entering aviation career fields. \u201cGetting in the door is the first step. Now we have to ensure that there is fair and equal treatment once you\u2019re in.\u201d Green\u2019s efforts with the NBCFAE strive to help everyone get the same opportunity. \u201cSometimes people of color don\u2019t make it through a training program, and it\u2019s sometimes not because of their ability,\u201d says Green. \u201cWhen we aren\u2019t successful, we want to make sure it\u2019s not because someone didn\u2019t want us there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Freddie Green is an Air Traffic Manager in Miami, Florida. As an Air Traffic Manager, he leads a team that serves many Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations in and out of Miami, including Center, Approach\/Departure TRACON, and Tower. He\u2019s also the National President of the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE), where he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,16],"tags":[48,49,50],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/freddie_green.jpeg",1024,683,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/freddie_green-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/freddie_green-300x200.jpeg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/freddie_green-768x512.jpeg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/freddie_green.jpeg",1024,683,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/freddie_green.jpeg",1024,683,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/freddie_green.jpeg",1024,683,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jake Roach","author_link":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/author\/jake\/"},"uagb_comment_info":3,"uagb_excerpt":"Freddie Green is an Air Traffic Manager in Miami, Florida. As an Air Traffic Manager, he leads a team that serves many Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations in and out of Miami, including Center, Approach\/Departure TRACON, and Tower. He\u2019s also the National President of the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE), where he...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482,"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions\/482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyfortheculture.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}