The NOTAM system failing shouldn’t have shut down the air traffic control system. I have owned 5 airplanes and have 1600 hours of flight time. I spent 33 years working as an air traffic controller, supervisor and district lever air traffic manager between Miami and Anchorage.
Losing the NOTAM system was an easy work around. Long story short, being woke and identity politics shutdown the system. Pete Buttigieg is not qualified. Buttigieg doesn’t know any more about the air traffic system than a homeless guy. Buttigieg, in my opinion, was selected because he is gay. And if he would have simply gone to work, maybe he could have helped prevent the failure.
First of all, NOTAM once stood for Notices to Airmen. Now its Notices to Air Missions. An example of being woke and the importance of identity politics. In 1977, when I started my air traffic control career, the vast majority of air traffic controllers were white males that were military veterans with proven air traffic experience. Then Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action began, and managers were required to hire a minority even if a more qualified and experienced white male applied.
And in 1977, my facility didn’t have computers. We passed flight information manually, just called the next facility 30 minutes prior, gave them the aircraft’s route information and mission accomplished. Today, they shut the system down. The FAA and the controller’s union have been dumbing down the air traffic system for decades. And yesterday is the result.
The FAA doesn’t teach the basics anymore. They argue how reliable their equipment is. I argue, while that is true, most applicants today would not successfully complete the training course if they had to learn the basics. Before I could work my first approach/departure control position, I had to prove I could work the position without any radar coverage, i.e. non-radar. In a non-radar environment, I had to memorize all the airways and assign course that didn’t conflict using only my brain and a radio. Today, they just shut the system down or slow it down and give the airspace to another facility.
When I attended the FAA Academy, if your grade average was 69.99 or less, you were fired immediately. Today, grades are gone, and everyone graduates. I have personally worked with controller trainees that took 15 plus years to certify. And you can thank FAA Management, Affirmative Action, and the controller’s union for that.
A simple work around, tell all pilots the NOTAM system is out of service, and it is up to him/her to obtain the information. The American Airlines office in Tallahassee could ask the airport manager what was closed then email the information to American’s main dispatch office. Then the dispatch office could email the information to all the airports they serve. Then the pilots had the needed information to operate their flights safely. Problem solved. But shutting down the system is what being woke gets you.
So, that is my opinion. just like our universities and colleges, the air traffic system has been dumbed down, also.