How the thank-you walls work, why posting is always free, and where optional donations go. Start here.
Thank ATC is a free, independent website for saying thank you to the air traffic controllers and pilots who get you home. Every one of the 316 U.S. air traffic control facilities has its own thank-you wall, and anyone can post on it.
Thank them for a flight today, or for one you still remember years later. Posting is free, takes about 30 seconds, and needs no sign-up and no donation.
If you'd like to do more, you can also make an optional thank-you donation. Those go directly to the charity on its own page. We never collect or hold your money.
No. Posting a thank-you is always free, and most people never donate. A kind note is the whole point. Donating is a separate, optional extra.
Yes. Thank-yous for flights from years ago are just as welcome as ones from today: a first solo, a scary night in the weather, a family trip, or a controller who helped you through a hard day. If you're not sure which facility handled your flight, use Find a facility or the Flight chain lookup on the homepage.
Yes. Every post is checked with AI assistance and then reviewed by a person before it appears, so the walls stay positive and respectful. You don't need an account, and your name is optional: first names or initials are fine.
If your post is about an emergency or incident, we leave out names, dates, and flight numbers to protect the people involved. You can write in English or Spanish; Spanish posts keep your words and show an English translation underneath.
Want a post changed or removed? Use our contact form and choose "Remove or change my post."
It depends on who you're thanking:
The charity you donate to issues your receipt. Thank ATC never sees or touches the money.
Yes, donations to the listed 501(c)(3) organizations are generally tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers to the extent permitted by law. The receiving charity will issue your receipt.
We don't provide tax advice — consult a qualified professional for your specific situation, especially for larger gifts or if you live outside the U.S.
The NATCA Charitable Foundation operates as 100% volunteers with operating expenses below 5% — meaning roughly 95 cents of every dollar reaches the people it's intended to help. ALPA Pilots for Pilots states that every penny donated goes to an ALPA member in need.
Thank ATC takes nothing. We're a referral site, not a fundraiser.
No money or transferable benefit goes to any individual. The thank-you dedication is informational — it lets the charity know your donation was inspired by their work. Whether and how the person or team you named learns about your dedication is up to the charity.
Functionally, your donation supports their broader community: disaster relief, scholarships for their kids, family assistance programs, and the philanthropy their union runs across the country.
You'll see a confirmation screen with:
You then complete the donation on the charity's own site — they collect your payment, send your receipt, and process the gift.
Type an airport code (like "MIA"), a city, or a state into Find a facility. The site covers 316 facilities: airport towers, approach controls (TRACONs), and en route centers. If you flew between two airports, the Flight chain lookup shows every facility that typically handled the flight.
For a donation, you can also choose "Other" at the bottom of the list and type the facility's name. If a facility is missing, let us know and we'll add it.
Because Thank ATC never collects the money, we can't process refunds. To dispute or cancel a donation, contact the receiving charity directly through their published contact information.
No. Thank ATC is an independent charitable referral service operated by Donate ATC LLC, a private company. It is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the NATCA Charitable Foundation, the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association, the Delta Pilots' Charitable Fund, any airline, or any government agency.
We point donors to unaffiliated 501(c)(3) charities (the NATCA Charitable Foundation for controllers, and the pilot charity the donor chooses for pilots) on a referral basis only. Donors complete their gift on the receiving charity's own donation page. We do not act on behalf of these organizations, do not represent them, and do not receive compensation from them.
References to the FAA, NATCA, ALPA, airline names, charity names, or facility names on this site are for identification purposes only and do not imply any endorsement or affiliation.
Yes. Encouraging people to make charitable donations to registered 501(c)(3) organizations is legal, common, and protected speech. The key things that keep it legal:
See our Donation Disclosure and Terms of Use for the full picture.
This is a fair question and one we take seriously. The short answer is no — because no money or gift actually changes hands with the controller. Federal ethics rules prohibit accepting gifts; they don't prohibit a third party from donating to a charity that does work the controller would presumably support.
That said, if you're a controller or pilot reading this and have concerns about being named in a dedication, please contact us and we can adjust how we handle facility-level dedications going forward.
Right now, we don't. Thank ATC is currently a self-funded charitable referral project. The people behind it cover hosting, domain registration, and other small costs out of pocket.
In the future, we may introduce clearly-labeled advertising from aviation businesses to cover ongoing costs, but we're prioritizing trust and a clean launch over revenue. Any future advertising will never affect which charities are featured or how the donation flow works.
Yes. If you'd prefer your name, facility, or airline not appear in our system, email us and we'll handle it. We default to facility/airline-level dedications (not individual names) precisely because we don't want to create awkwardness for people who haven't asked to be on a public site.
We're not actively taking on sponsors at the moment — we want the project to find its footing as a clean charitable referral site first. If you're an aviation business interested in supporting us once we open advertising in the future, send us a note through our contact form and we'll be in touch when the time is right.
Please do — we're building this in public. Email us with your suggestion and a short explanation. We especially welcome ideas from controllers, pilots, and other aviation professionals.
Use our contact form. We're a small operation, but we read everything.
Free, about 30 seconds, no sign-up. Donating is always optional.
Leave a thank-you