An exclusive report by the New York Post claims that on Monday evening between 18:30 to 21:30, flights out of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) were handled by just one air traffic controller and a trainee. The report quotes a New York-based controller describing the situation as “pure insanity.” It also noted that an FAA spokesperson said that there were at least three controllers scheduled for each hour on Monday night but did not clarify how many of them were fully certified personnel.
The New York Times reported something similar, adding that four people familiar with the situation said that the number of fully certified controllers on duty to manage Newark’s air traffic was sometimes one or two. These figures are shocking because the target number of controllers for Newark to manage traffic in those hours is around 14-15.
I think one of the biggest problems is the government cutting and not investing in our infrastructure just to give hand outs to big businesses and the wealthy.
That controller should have walked off and notified media no flights should be handled by Newark until they get their shit together.
This type of heroics can kill people.
Yeah. Or the ATC could just tell all incoming planes to divert to another airport because it is “not safe to land”.
It would cause chaos and keep everyone a bit safer.
If there is only one ATC at the helm, precisely ZERO flights should come or go.
so the blame is on the last traffic controller left?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets annoying comments from people who can’t read
This type of heroics can kill people.
So that line is not placing blame on the traffic controller holding the tower together?
I assume they are frustrated and they’re talking about how a good heroic outcome has sinister alternatives at every fork in the road. Different people react differently and the people who heroically soldier on are not simply saving the day, they are like an extension of dangerous policy. They’re never going to talk to the controller so it’s more general I think. Like “don’t be a hero, don’t be like this guy, if your bosses create a deadly environment then walk away”
Edit: I can be hypocritical and an asshole so if I say try assuming people are correct, might want to just ignore me.
No, I like your take and while I still disagree on focusing on the most vulnerable person in the chain, at least the way you describe it makes sense as it includes the entire decision making chain.
Thanks for taking the time to explain.
I categorically refuse to fly under Trump’s FAA.
The thing is it’s not Trump. Or more precisely it’s not only Trump. This shit started with Reagan. He decided to break the air traffic controller Union and in doing so he inexorably steered us down this path of chaos with our airplanes and airports. Trump is only the most recent president to throw gasoline on this particular fire. Biden did too so did Obama so did Bush.
The thing about Trump though is that he’s setting up even more situations that are going to be exactly like this with all the other agencies he’s trying to de-unionize.
I really wish we had better trains in the USA.
Could you imagine. For three straight hours, having thousands of lives in your hands knowing full well one mistake could send hundreds of them to their deaths. Bruh. Air traffic controllers need to strike.
They are federal employees. Federal employees can’t go on strike. Shit is fucked up. The US hates it’s labor force and that’s by design.
I keep seeing people say that… But what are they going to do? Fire them?! They have a fucking moral obligation to those flying under their watch, and if they are unable to do that for whatever reason, everything needs to stop until the issues are resolved. Not continuously hoping that crash won’t happen. It’s a matter of when not if.
All of your questions can literally be answered with history, as this type of stuff has already happened. Long story short, since others have typed it here as well, Reagan as president fired all 11k ATC workers and forced the Air Force to help pick up the slack while they looked for more workers. Some of those ATC workers got rehired, but it essentially prevents ATC from having any control of their careers.
How’d that work out last time?
How hard would it be to piss on Reagan’s grave?
Especially since I believe they are supposed to take a ten minute break every hour of work
Voting to make cuts to an already ailing ATC system makes no sense to me. Simply from a self-preservation aspect, I would think this is one service that all politicians and oligarchs would maintain. It doesn’t matter if you fly private or commercial, everyone uses and needs ATC to fly safely.
At least with something like global warming/climate change, I can see people selfishly believing it won’t effect them during their lifetime, but the 2nd and 3rd order effects of removing ATC can be immediate and fatal.
I only hope that a minimum number of bystanders are killed when poetic justice occurs.
It’s because the people at the tip top who regulate ATC don’t have any idea what’s actually involved. The actual regulators are very experienced and valuable. The suits think ‘It already works so why spend money on a system that already works.’ It gives a financial opportunity to cut on capital expenditures and engage in stock buy backs.
Maybe elon convinced them that grok could do the job next year. The same as robotaxis are a thing since 2018.
It’s probably going to take several fully loaded passenger jets or just two private jets colliding.
Whacko conspiracy time: they’re also working on cutting down Amtrak’s staffing and cutting funding for rail transit. Gas is expensive af and driving is uncomfortable and slow (not that Amtrak is any faster). What if the plan here is to just make interstate travel so painful that people stop travelling? I doubt it, though, I think this is just extra strong vanilla incompetence. I can’t imagine what the point of that would be, for starters.
Think of it this way: You need to get out of a bad living situation, and you have $1000 that you can allocate to travel. If there’s public transit to an airport, you can easily take a flight to anywhere in the country, or even to another country, well within that budget. If you can get on a bus, you can make it at least a few states away. If you can get on a train, likely to any state on it’s network.
If none of those are available, you have to buy a car or take taxis. Buying a car means buying gas and insurance, plus having a license, and the cost of registration. That $1000 might get you about as far as a full tank of gas will last, the license plate is traceable, and you have a much higher chance of getting hurt in an accident.
Now consider that situation, and you are a pregnant woman in Mississippi, which has some of the most restrictive laws banning abortion. You live in an abusive household and want to leave, as well as end the pregnancy. With access to a bus and plane, you can get to anywhere in the US to have your abortion, likely with money to spare. If you only have a car and one tank of gas, you’re not going to make it to any state that would allow that abortion.
This kind of shit is part of how I square government-supplied mass transit with libertarian/anarchist views. Cars are the gateway to so much intrusive, authoritarian bullshit, it’s actually nuts how people see them as tools of freedom.
In my admittedly limited experience, rail is a hell of a lot faster getting into an urban area.
It depends a lot on where you are. In the west? 50% of Amtrak stations are out in a suburb or a field or some bullshit like that. In the east, you’re absolutely correct. We’ve basically spent 100 years dismantling, underfunding, and obstructing passenger rail to prioritize cars, and it, uh, shows.
Here is the neat part. ATC controllers in training needed a huge bump in recruiting numbers 10 years ago. These jobs aren’t something you can pull people off the street to do. There can be zero mistakes, trainees need to be vetted and undergo tons of hours in training and education to be experienced enough to work unsupervised in the tower.
I reckon we are past the point of no return with the current system. Either we are going to see a reduction in operational airports or we are gonna see a lot more automated systems directing traffic.
Here’s a fantastic case for a union. There simply MUST be a minimum number of personnel looking after any given airspace for it to be considered safe, or the whole area gets shut down. It really is pure insanity, and no single person should be responsible for all flights at an airport. If something bad had happened who would get blamed? Who would live the rest of their life knowing they had been taken advantage of and put in a position where over a hundred lives were lost? It’s simply unacceptable that one person should bear that responsibility.
Oh they had one. In 1981 they called a strike, and Reagan fired the 11 000 ATC who were on strike.
That is one of the reasons why labor protection are virtually inexistent in the US, as it’s illegal for federal employees to strike. Wild…
They do have a union
They should go on strike but be more organized, unlike the Reagan era
Federal workers cannot strike, by law
What if he needs to take a dump?
Was he not wearing socks?
I see lots of dead people in the future of flight.
Did we make America great yet?
Well im glad im reading this after I landed bc wtf
He probably needs a drink after that shift
Newark running a whole real busy airport like M. Bjoernstroem running his remote Swedish airport, wtf?
Sounds like he’s in a very strong bargaining position at least
