Assil Bedewi loves the complex task of directing the movements of the dozens of aircraft that criss-cross her screen as they take off or come in for landing.

As an air traffic controller for Nav Canada, it鈥檚 her responsibility to ensure the planes swooping in and out of some of Canada鈥檚 busiest airports have a safe path to take off and land without crossing paths.

But while the 34-year-old is thriving in a job that鈥檚 regularly described as one of the world鈥檚 most stressful, she remains a minority in a field that鈥檚 largely still dominated by men.

According to Nav Canada, the private company that manages Canadian civil air navigation, less than 25 per cent of the workforce at the Montreal control centre are women.

It鈥檚 something they鈥檙e trying to change, in part by teaming up with Elevate, a volunteer-run network that promotes aviation careers for women.

Bedewi says she doesn鈥檛 know why more women aren鈥檛 flocking to a job that often pays six figures and only requires a high-school education, other than to assume they don鈥檛 know about it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of educating women to the fact that it鈥檚 a job out there that is available to them, about the possibility of all these great jobs that are out there,鈥� she said.

On Friday, Nav Canada and Elevate offered reporters and school-aged children a tour of the gated red-brick building near Montreal鈥檚 Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport that is responsible for the entire airspace of Quebec, as well as parts of Nunavut and Eastern Ontario.

Lyne Moreau, the general manager of the Montreal Flight Information Region, said she hopes that more awareness about aviation careers is all it will take to attract more women and diverse candidates to a field that is traditionally male and white.

鈥淥ne thing is, it鈥檚 not a well known job, people don鈥檛 know 鈥� what the job is, what an air traffic controller does,鈥� Moreau said during the tour.

There鈥檚 also the reputation for stress, dramatized by Hollywood films that portray air traffic controllers as nervous wrecks, shouting into headphones as they scramble to avert near misses.

But while Bedewi and Moreau acknowledged that the job is stressful, they said it鈥檚 not the intense pressure-cooker portrayed in the movies.

Bedewi said that while tense situations do arise 鈥� usually when there鈥檚 bad weather or a plane has mechanical trouble 鈥� juggling multiple calls from pilots and supervisors has become second nature.

鈥淎t certain point it becomes automatic, and you鈥檝e learned to have this kind of active listening to what鈥檚 going on around you,鈥� she said, adding that controllers and pilots work as a team to bring aircraft in safely.

鈥淥ftentimes, you don鈥檛 even realize you鈥檝e just taken a message from a supervisor while you鈥檙e still doing the job.鈥�

Inside the control centre, the prevailing atmosphere was of calm rather than chaos.

Workers sat in semi-darkness, murmuring quietly to one another as they stared at the myriad of blips and lines moving across their screens.

Scaffolding ran overhead 鈥� due to repair work to improve soundproofing and lower the sound levels of an already quiet workspace, Moreau says.

鈥�(Employees) need to have a high level of focus as soon as they鈥檙e sitting in position, so we鈥檙e very careful with distraction on our sites,鈥� she said, adding that workers are required to take breaks every hour or two to ensure they stay fresh.

While little prior education is required, Moreau acknowledged the job isn鈥檛 for everyone.

She credited the company鈥檚 intense, nearly two-year training program for weeding out those whose aren鈥檛 suited.

The best candidates, she said, show laser-like focus, the ability to view things three-dimensionally, and, most of all, quick thinking.

鈥淲ith airplanes, they鈥檙e moving in the sky and you can鈥檛 stop them,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he idea of (saying) 鈥業鈥檓 not sure what to do, can I pause,鈥� you don鈥檛 have that luxury.鈥�

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

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