Air traffic congestion often raises safety concerns for passengers. In the last year, U.S. airlines flew 753 million passengers both domestically and internationally. As Thanksgiving Day approaches, airline travel will reach its most hectic pace across the country, with Los Angeles International and Chicago O’Hare predicted to be the two busiest domestic airports. On top of the holiday bustle, there are reports that flight delays could soon reach their worst levels seen in the last twenty years. While air safety should always be the regulatory priority, recent policy changes at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have raised some serious questions and the flying public deserves some answers.
Recall when Ronald Reagan fired over 12,000 striking government air traffic controllers in 1981? Now most of the air traffic controllers that were hired to replace the strikers face mandatory retirement. In fact, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Office report, more than 11,700 air traffic controllers will retire by 2021. While that should be enough to get the FAA geared up to meet this growing challenge, a string of problems – agency mismanagement and overspending, a proposal to sideline the current training program, and turning away potentially prime candidates from selection into the training program – are impeding the pathway to get more air traffic controllers into the airport towers where they are needed.
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