Most people appreciate the service of air traffic controllers, but airports and airlines often don’t. Congress usually appropriates funds for improved ATC tracking and communication systems over 3 to 5 years, complicating use and safety; changes in biennial reauthorizations make implementations chaotic and expensive.
Meanwhile, DOGE and President Trump have reduced — and plan to continue reducing — funding and staff at FAA, NAS, and NTSB. Is the recent batch of aviation crashes the result? Of course it is! Air Traffic management risks include busy-hour complexity, and staffing remote ATC at intermediate airports overnight involves unscheduled flights — so controllers may be busy when called — unaware of an earlier call or assigned to two flights simultaneously. That was part of the recent collision near Reagan National Airport, and of a fatal crash in Minnesota not long ago.
U.S. Senators and Representatives tolerate this now and seemingly are not alarmed. Some are even less informed than their constituents OR their caucus’ Transportation Committee delegates. So, yes, aviation safety is not a political goal.
Jim Spensley
