Here in San Diego there have recently been two very close calls between aircraft landing and aircraft on the surface at Lindbergh Field. Both were likely due to overloaded air traffic controllers; in both cases all the aircraft involved were following the directions of air traffic control. (In one case they should NOT have been listening to the controller because there was an obvious problem.)
Where I fly normally we are seeing similar problems, but with the minimal part-121 air traffic (only 4 airliner takeoff/landings a day) the problems are more minor, and dealt with by aircraft that can stop and turn on a dime (compared to, say, a 737.) Rumor has it that since it is a much smaller airport, but still with scheduled airline flights, it's used for training - and as soon as someone is at all competent they are moved to a busier airport.
And now we have the LaGuardia fatal crash, again the fault of air traffic control.
During the DOGE cuts of last year, almost no air traffic controllers were fired. But aeronautical information specialists, facility maintenance mechanics, air safety assistants and ATC training staff were cut - and that has led to more difficulty in hiring, training and supporting ATC staff. So this is not likely to get better any time soon.
And now that the TSA isn't being paid, there are tremendously long lines at security checkpoints, leading to delayed and cancelled flights when almost no one shows up for the flight on time. Adding ICE agents to the mix will surely gum up the works further as untrained officers, used more as shock troops than security, try to take over those roles. As of today, with ICE 'helping,' wait times are still getting longer and longer. Houston TSA delays are now at 270 minutes as an example. Atlanta hit 180 minutes, then stopped posting their wait times; now their website just says "allow at least 3 hours."
In the short term this will mean a hit for both airlines (who have to issue refunds) and travelers (who can no longer travel.) This will in turn impact the economy as tourists no longer spend money and companies have far more difficulty sending people to meetings, salesmen to contacts and servicepeople to take care of maintenance and repairs.
Where I fly normally we are seeing similar problems, but with the minimal part-121 air traffic (only 4 airliner takeoff/landings a day) the problems are more minor, and dealt with by aircraft that can stop and turn on a dime (compared to, say, a 737.) Rumor has it that since it is a much smaller airport, but still with scheduled airline flights, it's used for training - and as soon as someone is at all competent they are moved to a busier airport.
And now we have the LaGuardia fatal crash, again the fault of air traffic control.
During the DOGE cuts of last year, almost no air traffic controllers were fired. But aeronautical information specialists, facility maintenance mechanics, air safety assistants and ATC training staff were cut - and that has led to more difficulty in hiring, training and supporting ATC staff. So this is not likely to get better any time soon.
And now that the TSA isn't being paid, there are tremendously long lines at security checkpoints, leading to delayed and cancelled flights when almost no one shows up for the flight on time. Adding ICE agents to the mix will surely gum up the works further as untrained officers, used more as shock troops than security, try to take over those roles. As of today, with ICE 'helping,' wait times are still getting longer and longer. Houston TSA delays are now at 270 minutes as an example. Atlanta hit 180 minutes, then stopped posting their wait times; now their website just says "allow at least 3 hours."
In the short term this will mean a hit for both airlines (who have to issue refunds) and travelers (who can no longer travel.) This will in turn impact the economy as tourists no longer spend money and companies have far more difficulty sending people to meetings, salesmen to contacts and servicepeople to take care of maintenance and repairs.
