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Jake Welty

@avgeekjake

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Air Traffic Controller @ John Wayne Airport KSNA
@bingojets Charters✈️
Newport Beach, Cali
Fly Good, Don’t Suck.

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CERTIFIED. ✈️

Yesterday, September 11, 2026, I officially became a fully certified Air Traffic Controller with the Federal Aviation Administration at John Wayne Airport.

It’s hard to put into words what this moment means to me.

I was born with aviation in my veins. Long before I ever understood what a career in aviation could look like, I was the kid setting up pretend airports across my bedroom floor with model airplanes, moving them around and pretending to be the air traffic controller. Aviation was never just something I was interested in — it was something I was completely fascinated by.

But somehow, I never actually thought I could become an air traffic controller.

In 2019, I joined the United States Air Force searching for a new path in life. Someone convinced me to sign up for Air Traffic Control, and looking back now, that one decision changed the entire trajectory of my life.

From May 2019 to May 2025, I had the privilege of controlling aircraft at McChord Air Force Base. Toward the end of that chapter, from September 2024 through June 2025, I also worked as a ramp tower controller at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Then came the FAA.

On July 15, 2025, I walked into John Wayne Airport and began training. Fourteen months of learning, studying, good days, bad days, long hours, pressure, mistakes, improvement, and a whole lot of determination later, I finally heard the words I had been working toward:

“You’re certified.”

September 11, 2026.

Looking back, it’s crazy to see how every chapter somehow led to this one.

From attending Raisbeck Aviation High School, to working as a line guy at my local flight school, to aviation media, becoming a student pilot, serving in the Air Force, working at McChord and SeaTac, and now controlling airplanes for the FAA at John Wayne Airport.

At 27 years old, I never imagined my aviation journey would have already taken me this far.

And I definitely didn’t get here alone.

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