Airlines scored a point in the losing game that is this summer’s air travel situation when the FAA had to admit that a ground stop at New York’s three major airports was because of staff shortages. The agency reduced traffic in the world’s busiest airspace, causing the predictable system-wide disruptions. For months, the agency and the airlines have been sparring about who should take the blame for a trying summer for many travelers. It’s a numbers game that will take time to resolve, says the head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
I think “the pandemic” is shorthand for covid closures, social distancing, masking which impeded communication, regular testing and rolling personnel unavailability.
"For months, the agency and the airlines have been sparring about who should take the blame for a trying summer for many travellers. "
Keeping a scorecard of the other side’s infractions generates a nice comprehensive list, but does nothing to address the problems. Ex. I had an ex-wife who thought the scorecard method would pressure me into doing things her way, all the time, but it just doesn’t work. Hence ex-wife.
The issues in NYC and Florida ARE an ATC a problem. The blame Mayor Pete keeps heaping on the airlines is just an attempt to cover for his own incompetence.
LOL. The problem is getting worse by the day under his watch. I know this because I regularly fly out of all 3 NY area airports from the left seat of an airliner. 12 months ago there was a real issue with weather before there were ground stops in NYC, now they occur regularly on clear sky days.
Pete is incompetent and the new FAA administrator has no background in aviation except less than a year as the manager at Denver International, what could go wrong?
I think you nailed it. The blame game has always been apolitical as the pandemic created world wide upheaval in every part of our lives. Covid-19 spreading and killing millions no different from influenza in 1918 killing millions except modern air travel spread covid-19 faster to disrupt the economy everywhere. Add to dissatisfaction in working conditions, indecision on masking and deliberately making covid-19 political brought us where we are today. Major disruptions in travel by rail, cruise ships or by air with companies attempting to deal fairly with a life and death pandemic no one wants. Returning back to normal before covid-19 shows the struggles in business as economic shortfalls appear everywhere. Recovering well be slower and the public isn’t happy about travel. Cutting back on scheduled airlines may be the interim solution to help ease demand as everyone wants to travel NOW. The airlines are creating some problems if they are not handling shortages in flight crews by attempting to fill planes without crews. Staffing shortages at airports including FAA controlling ground and air traffic may not be admitting to being overwhelmed with pandemic induced staffing issues. London is one of the first airports to reduce flight schedules due to staffing so this has to affect world wide travel until everyone accepts the reality of this pandemic affecting everyone and dealing with it. Pointing fingers gets old very quickly.
I’ve done several TAC routes at 8000’ from LGA to DCA in an A320, and so have many others one other airlines. Not my favorite way to proceed… To say we were on high alert for traffic is an understatement. It was blamed on ‘ATC saturation’… this article is a better explanation.
Exactly. I suspect I will soon get yet another slew of incorrect letters from the IRS threatening to seize tens of thousands I do not owe. Will these new 87,000 employees mean my phone call or letters will be answered?
No.
It’s a jobs bill at best, and simply hiring loyal thugs for some future fight at worst.
Important not to forget that the so-called pandemic and resulting irrational measures taken to slow its spread did nothing but bad. Even the CDC admits this. Had union and airline leadership stood up to government’s reckless handling of the so-called pandemic, this latest government-created mess would not have impacted the private sector in the way it did. How many government employees at the FAA, TSA and airports lost their government jobs during the so-called pandemic? I’d bet somewhere between zero and none.
A union president cites staff shortages?
Excuse me, but automation SHOULD have reduced staff by 10% over the last 10 years.
That’s the whole point of automation.
Hell, when was the last time you walked into a FSS and got a personal briefing?
ATC staffing has always been the victim of the push for “smaller government” and shrinking budgets by a set percentage without actually analyzing the consequences. Even 10 years ago, my large TRACON had too few controllers per shift to staff all RADAR positions. Throughout each shift, we were forced to combine and de-combine RADAR positions that should have been left split due to volume, but we simply didn’t have the people due to congressionally mandated budgets and set controller workforce numbers.
And while automation advances have assisted controllers in doing their jobs, and have maybe reduced the years needed to train new controllers, automation doesn’t talk on the radio.
If you think its solely an ATC problem not compounded by airlines incompetent scheduling you are living in a sheltered corner. Yes the ATC staffing is a very real issue that isnt going away for a very very long time. But its not the ONLY problem.
Oh and forgot to mention that most of the staffing problems revolve around a government still embracing the pandemic as some sort of cataclysmic life ending disease. They implemented mitigations that FORCE lower staffing to critical numbers if ONE person is contact traced within and area of specialty. My opinion and not that of the agency.
We all know as well as the FAA why they moved a huge sector out of NY and into Philly. And ALL those space launches (???) in “New York” airspace are causing delays? Really? Don’t urinate on my leg and tell me it’s raining. Four hours “time-on-position” for an eight hour shift and you are short staffed. Please…