Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the flight delays of the past week are nothing compared to what’s in store in coming weeks if the government shutdown drags on. “If the government doesn’t open in the next week or two, we’ll look back as these were the good days, not the bad days,” he said during an interview with ABC News’s Martha Raddatz on Sunday. Many air traffic control facilities are understaffed, but the shutdown has prompted an uptick in controllers calling in sick, exacerbating the staffing problems, which make for less-than-ideal working conditions and reduced safety margins. “When we have controllers, where we have shortages and towers, and TRACONs doing two jobs, does it add more risk into the system? Sure, it does,” Duffy said.
There is apparently money available to pay the controllers, but it’s up to President Donald Trump to authorize alternative funding to see them through. There are also plenty of critical functions besides ATC that would benefit from having a paid workforce, he said. Meanwhile, the FAA has really only one way to ensure safety when there aren’t enough controllers and that’s to throttle traffic. More than 5,000 flight delays and 236 cancellations were reported for flights beginning or ending in the U.S. on Sunday. Newark was the worst with 37% of flights delayed and about 10% of both departures and arrivals canceled.
Sattelite based global ATC funded by passenger count. There are a myriad of taxes, fees, seat and baggage fee add-ons so why not an ATC add-on? Looks like Starlink is the answer to this big mess assuming all contracting states pay and those that don’t won’t have any access to the rest of the modern world. Large volume airlines pay large system access fees.
The Administrator and the upline, seem more interested in politics than in living up to the FAA’s own motto, “Safety is our passion.” Air traffic controllers, FAA technicians, and safety inspectors are keeping the system safe without a paycheck while politicians dodge the issue and collect theirs. The military, et al, get paid through emergency funds, proving this administration can act fast when it wants to. It just won’t for the people protecting lives in the NAS. These unpaid or furloughed workers are the backbone of aviation safety. Every operation and every system depends on their link in the chain. Pay them. Just like the military. Putting politics before safety and provoking the people who keep the system safe is reckless.
Hence my idea to shut all of it down. Reckless politics deserve reckless reactions. 1 day of 0 ATC and the fat lady sings.
Imagine one day of zero pilots in support and watch how fast the tune changes in Washington.
Imagine the fireworks on the streets. Americans are way to patient with these criminals.
Yep. At this point, the Speaker of the House has been refusing to allow it to be in session to avoid swearing in an elected representative for weeks.
Which is also blocking any funding bills being voted on. Which doesn’t mean much when the admin is refusing to spend money on what it’s been assigned to.
It will only take the Senate to pass the Continuing Resolution to get everything back on track and the government reopened. But it seems that politics is more important to them than the operation of the country.
Ooh, so there are multiple ways that the Republican-controlled Congress can resolve this and aren’t. Lovely. =\
Apparently you didn’t study Civics in school and so don’t know how the process works.
Well it’s been a few decades since I was in school and funding for it had been being attacked for years at that point, so that’s perfectly plausible.
Wonder what would happen if Air Force One were to hear, “… cleared as filed, indefinite hold for taxi …”
Rash actions will only invite rasher responses. Increased wait times and mounting costs are the best avenues to seeing quicker remedies IMHO. Careful, considered thought quickly evaporates in this climate of hostility.