What key role does Air Traffic Control play in aviation?

Air Traffic Control (ATC) plays a vital role in ensuring the safe flow of air traffic, which encompasses a range of responsibilities essential to maintaining safety in the skies. This includes providing guidance to pilots during takeoff, landing, and while en route, managing the separation of aircraft to prevent collisions, and coordinating the movement of planes within controlled airspaces. By doing so, ATC helps to prevent accidents, ensures efficient airspace utilization, and facilitates orderly and expeditious travel for all aircraft.

While the management of local traffic around airports is certainly a function of ATC, it is just one aspect of the broader mission of maintaining safety and efficiency in all phases of flight, which is the hallmark of ATC operations. Monitoring aircraft fuel levels and providing in-flight entertainment fall outside the scope of ATC's responsibilities, as fuel management is typically handled by the airline and flight crews themselves, while in-flight entertainment is catered to by the airline's service team, not air traffic controllers.