Croatian Air Traffic Control has extended the upper age limit from 26 to 28 for vocational training and employment of air traffic controllers. This is a result of the intervention of the Ombudsman’s Office upon the citizen’s complaints on discrimination based on age in employment for this position.

Namely, due to the specific requirements of this job, like the length of working experience, obligatory health fitness of candidates and the length and costs of their vocational training, the need for candidates of certain age looks reasonable. However, the age 26 limit remains questionable.

Notwithstanding the EUROCONTROL recommendation that ideal candidates for vocational training are of 20 to 25 age, it is about an individual character which may differ from one to another candidate; there is no guarantee that everybody of age 23 would pass the exams as well as there is no guarantee that a 29-30 years old candidate would not make it.

In favour of such argument goes the fact that the upper age limit for air traffic controllers differ in other countries, for example, American FAA, Dutch LVNL and Swiss Skyguide set it at 30 years of age.

In addition, persons of all age currently occupy these positions, the oldest is 53 year, and it is understandable that they all are fit for the job. Some of them were employed when they were 27 or 28 which means that they would not fulfil the job criteria if employed for the first time today.

Therefore, the Ombudswoman concluded upon the complaint, that the position of the Croatian Air Traffic Control is not sufficiently transparent if only 26 year old candidates or younger are adequate for the vocational training for the air traffic controllers and that the upper age limit should be revised. It was done and the age limit was extended to 28.