Toronto, Canada (CNN) — It’s a witty irony that Kurtis Arnold’s claim rings true for him on most days; the most stressful part of his job as an air traffic controller is his commute in by car.

As the scrutiny over air control safety continues, Arnold admits it can be a stressful job but that Nav Canada, his employer and Canada’s only air traffic control provider, has put the training and tools in place to manage that stress both on duty and off.

“I think the air traffic controllers are like the wizard who’s behind the curtain,” says Arnold while perched in a tower high above Toronto’s Pearson Airport on a hectic day with fog finally rolling out and severe thunderstorms rolling in.
“At our busiest peak periods we’ll have a takeoff or landing at this airport about every 25 seconds. So what’s it like to work that? Well there’s a lot going on. You really train yourself to internalize the procedures so you’re really making decision sub-consciously because you’re communicating constantly.” says Arnold.

As Arnold hits the screens for a typical day of work, the atmosphere both in the control tower at Toronto’s airport and the Area Control Center next door, is professional yet genial. read more