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The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
John Oliver on current aviation safety system: ‘It is just asking for trouble'
On the latest Last Week Tonight, John Oliver looked into the shortage of air traffic controllers in the US, leading to airport delays and contributing to aviation safety issues. Oliver first noted that large, fatal commercial airline crashes are extremely rare, and that commercial is still by far the safest way to travel. And one major reason for that is air traffic controllers, which Oliver called 'the unsung heroes of the sky'. 'Air traffic controllers have to be constantly vigilant,' he explained on Sunday evening. 'It's not like a normal job where you start a task, then check Reddit for a few hours, then go back to it, but then it's lunch, then you start the task again but you need a coffee, then you get sucked into a conversation with fucking Derek, so you vent to your pal Jeanine about how much Derek sucks, then you go back to work, then you see Jeanine and Derek laughing about something and you think wait are Jeanine and Derek friends? Oh shit! Then it's 6pm and whatever you had to do really feels more like a tomorrow thing anyway.' 'Unlike that, air traffic controllers actually have to get shit done,' ensuring the safety of about 2 million passengers a day. 'But there's been signs that our system is under extreme strain,' he said, such as the delays at Newark airport last month when some controllers took trauma leave after a terrifying system blackout. In January, a passenger jet and a military helicopter collided near Reagan national airport, killing 67 people. Preliminary reports suggest that there was a shortage of controllers that night, with one person doing both helicopter control and local control combined. 'All of this is bringing into sharp focus just how stressful this job is, and how understaffed most facilities are,' Oliver continued, noting that while ideally there would be more than 14,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) professional controllers, there are currently just under 11,000, with 99% of air traffic control facilities in the US operating below recommended staffing levels. And staffers have been sounding the alarm for a while, both internally and externally – a 2023 report from the New York Times found multiple close calls per week due to controller fatigue. 'Well that's not great,' said Oliver. 'If I had to pick adjectives that I would like to describe air traffic controllers in charge of my flight, 'well-rested' would be near the top of the list, along with 'highly paid' and possibly even 'erotically thrilled by the concept of planes landing safely'. As long as we get there in one piece, I don't really care what the hand under the desk is doing. 'And when you combine all of that with the fact that air traffic control equipment is shockingly outdated and poorly maintained, it's frankly a miracle our system works as well as it does,' he added. 'But we probably shouldn't be running it on miracles.' Oliver delved into how we got here – 'as with so many things on this show, at least some of the blame lies with Ronald Reagan.' Though he promised to expand staffing levels, benefits and technology for air traffic controllers, whose union backed him, Reagan never followed through, and threatened to fire and prosecute controllers when they went on strike. Reagan ultimately did fire 11,000 controllers when they went on strike and banned them from ever being rehired. 'That left some important legacies,' Oliver explained, 'including a massive, panicked hiring spree of new controllers, meaning that two decades later there was also a massive wave of retirements. The FAA has never really managed to catch up with hiring since then.' For one thing, it's a very difficult job, with strict requirements for eligibility, including no history of heart disease, high or low blood pressure, and psychosis, neurosis or any personality or mental disorder. 'And good luck with that!' Oliver exclaimed. 'Nowadays we all spend 20 hours a day watching our friends have fun without us, the pope is a Bob, the oceans are plastic, and astronaut Katy Perry is back on tour. There is no such thing as a mentally healthy person any more, just people who don't have good enough health insurance to get a diagnosis.' Candidates also have to take the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA) exam, which is difficult; less than 10% of applicants make it into the training program, which itself weeds out many other aspiring controllers. Of 1,000 applicants, Oliver noted, only about 50 will become controllers 'at the end of a grueling, years-long process. That is a 5% success rate! It's like Squid Game, if the prize of Squid Game was to just keep doing Squid Game as a job' until a mandatory retirement age of 56. The job is made more difficult by outdated equipment; many air traffic controllers are still working with paper strips, floppy disks and computers based on Windows 95. The FAA has admitted, in some instances, to buying replacement parts off eBay. 'That is clearly not where you should be buying critical equipment,' Oliver mused. 'The only thing you should be buying from eBay are vintage RadioShack swag and a discarded e-meter from the Church of Scientology.' The facilities aren't much better, with some staff reporting elevator malfunctions that force them to climb hundreds of stairs to work, bees and biting flies harassing controllers, and radar systems cooled down by rotary fans. The issues aren't new – the Bush administration promised to modernize air traffic control by 2025, 'which is, and this is true, now', Oliver said. 'So obviously, that didn't happen,' in part because the FAA is part of discretionary, not mandatory, federal spending, so it's vulnerable to getting caught up in federal budget fights. 'It is really hard to plan for any long-term overhaul when the money you need keeps getting pulled out from under you,' he said. 'When you take all this together – ageing technologies, crumbling facilities full of people who are understandably burned out – it is just asking for trouble.' What can be done? Trump's transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, has called for an increase in controller staffing and pay bumps for trainees. On the downside, Oliver noted, he's co-signed Trump's rhetoric about how problems at the FAA were caused by diversity initiatives, 'which is both racist and utterly divorced from any of the issues at the agency'. Duffy also introduced a plan called 'Brand New Air Traffic Control System' and called for reform in under three years, 'but the devil is in the details here', said Oliver, as he hasn't released any specific spending plan or milestones. 'Here is the good news: people across the political spectrum agree that we have a problem here,' Oliver concluded. 'The bad news is, there aren't going to be quick fixes. This is going to require long-term investment.' Which is why Oliver called on Congress to make FAA equipment and facilities mandatory spending instead of discretionary, and to do everything possible to ramp up hiring of controllers. 'It is critically important work, and it needs to be properly valued.'
Forbes
28-05-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
Over 4,500 Flights Delayed Tuesday Due To Pockets Of Bad Weather
Airports in Denver, Atlanta and Dallas were the trouble spots Tuesday, as thousands of flights were delayed due to pockets of bad weather—while chronically congested Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. was under yet another ground stop for several hours. Thousands of flights were delayed across the U.S. on Tuesday. As of 7:45 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, over 4,500 flights were delayed and more than 200 canceled in and out of U.S. airports, according to FlightAware. Fog at Denver International Airport early Tuesday afternoon led to an extended ground delay as well as a one-hour ground stop, while Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was under a ground stop for more than two hours Tuesday afternoon due to thunderstorms. Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., was under a ground stop for more than two hours Tuesday afternoon due to 'airspace volume,' otherwise known as congestion. U.S. airports racking up triple-digit delays for both departures and arrivals Tuesday included Denver, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago O'Hare. In the summer, storms in one region of the country can quickly turn into a national air travel problem, which is why experts recommend flying early in the day. Delays tend to mount throughout the afternoon because airlines reuse planes and crews for multiple flights, and a delay early in the day can lead to a domino effect later on. 'Flights that go out earlier in the day are less likely to hang up, and that's particularly true in the summertime,' John Cox, retired commercial airline pilot and aviation safety expert, told Forbes. On Monday, FlightAware reported 7,688 flight delays in U.S. airspace, representing approximately 17% of all flights for the day. The National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday includes a 'slight' risk of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast. A severe thunderstorm warning, including 60 mph wind gusts, was issued mid-afternoon for parts of southeastern Alabama. Memorial Day Travel Woes: More Than 4,300 Flights Delayed As Severe Thunderstorms Cause Disruptions (Forbes)
Free Malaysia Today
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
US agencies open probe after 2 aborted commercial flight landings
The FAA has imposed permanent restrictions on non-essential helicopter operations around the airport following January's fatal crash. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : Federal investigators have launched a probe after two flights aborted landings at Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday because of the presence of a US army Black Hawk helicopter that was too close and headed to the Pentagon. The federal aviation administration said on Friday that air traffic control instructed Delta Air Lines Flight 1671, an Airbus A319 that had originated in Orlando, and Republic Airways Flight 5825, an Embraer 170 that had departed from Boston, to perform go-arounds at around 2.30pm due to a priority military air transport helicopter in the vicinity. The national transportation safety board is also investigating. Following a Jan 29 mid-air collision of an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk that killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, the FAA imposed permanent restrictions on non-essential helicopter operations around Reagan National Airport. The FAA told Congress it was reviewing the Army helicopter's route in the two 'loss of separation' incidents on Thursday and whether the route violates an agreement with the army. 'It appears the Black Hawk operation did not proceed directly to the Pentagon Heliport. Instead, it took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport,' the FAA memo seen by Reuters said. Senate commerce committee chair Ted Cruz said 'the army is once again putting the traveling public at risk… It's time for the FAA to act swiftly and assert control over the national airspace so the army stops running air taxis for military officials near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.' Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the army had disregarded helicopter safety rules. 'No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians. Take a taxi or Uber – besides most VIPs have black car service,' Duffy said. Delta said there were five crew and 97 passengers aboard the flight. 'Nothing is more important at Delta than the safety of our customers and people. We'll cooperate with the FAA as they investigate,' the airline said on Friday. The Pentagon did not immediately comment. A person involved said investigators are reviewing the helicopter's route and interactions with air traffic control. A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that according to initial information, the military helicopter was doing an emergency evacuation rehearsal. 'It is outrageous that only three months after an army Black Hawk helicopter tragically collided with a passenger jet, the same army brigade again flew a helicopter too close to passenger jets on final approach at (Reagan Washington),' senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the commerce committee, said. 'This comes less than a week after this brigade resumed flights in the national capital region. It is far past time for secretary Hegseth and the FAA to give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves,' she said, referring to defence secretary Pete Hegseth. Republic Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The airport is located in northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., and about 6.4km from Capitol Hill, making it popular with lawmakers, tourists and local residents. The FAA in March permanently closed one key route and prohibited the use of two smaller runways at the airport when helicopters conducting urgent missions are operating near the airport. Since 2021, there have been 85 recorded events involving a potentially dangerous near-miss between a helicopter and a plane – defined as a lateral separation of less than 1,500 feet and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet, the national transportation safety board said in March. A number of recent safety incidents at the airport have raised alarm, including a March 28 incident involving a Delta flight and a group of Air Force jets. Airlines for America, a group representing American Airlines and other US carriers, in March urged the FAA to permanently reduce helicopter traffic around the airport. The group called on the FAA to suspend some nearby helicopter routes with limited exceptions for essential military or medical emergencies. The army has also come under fire for routinely turning off a key safety system known as ADS-B during training missions in the Washington area. The FAA is investigating helicopter traffic near other major airports and announced changes to address safety concerns in Las Vegas last week.
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Pentagon lost contact with Army helicopter on flight that caused jets to nix landings at DC airport
WASHINGTON — Military air traffic controllers lost contact with an Army helicopter for about 20 seconds as it neared the Pentagon on the flight that caused two commercial jets to abort their landings this month at a Washington airport, the Army told The Associated Press on Friday. The aborted landings on May 1 added to general unease about continued close calls between government helicopters and commercial airplanes near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people.
Axios
23-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
D.C.-area airports add new flights, restaurants for peak summer travel
The D.C. area's airports are gearing up for record summer travel with new routes to popular destinations and fresh dining and drinking options to keep people on the ground entertained. The big picture: Both Dulles International and Reagan National are expanding to accommodate more travelers, airlines and routes, and are upping their amenities to improve the airport experience. By the numbers: More than 20 million people are expected to pass through the airports between May and August, with 11 million at Dulles alone (it has more than 60 nonstop international destinations). Airlines like United are counting on a record-busy summer. Memorial Day weekend flights at Dulles are up by 20% over last year. Zoom in: United just launched three new international routes from Dulles: to Dakar, Senegal; Venice, Italy; and Nice, France — the first and only nonstop flight from D.C. to the French Riviera. Other airlines like Frontier and Allegiant are also launching new routes from Dulles, while WestJet is resuming seasonal routes to Canada. At Reagan, American Airlines is upping its summer routes. Foodwise: Dulles just got a Ben's Chili Bowl, a Rappahannock Oyster Bar, and a spinoff of Navy Yard's upscale diner Gatsby. What's next: Nearly a dozen new concessions will open at the two airports in the coming year. Dulles gets the bulk, including several local businesses: 2 Silos Brewing Co.: A spinoff of the Manassas brewery. Clyde's: The beloved American tavern that started in Georgetown will serve burgers and more. Aslin Beer Co.: A local brewery with a diverse menu. The Market at Shenandoah: A retail marketplace for local products, adjoining a Starbucks. Wanderlust: Offers local chocolates, specialty gifts and D.C. souvenirs. DCA will bring in two local chains: Makers Union gastropub and Wiseguy Pizza.
