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The New York Times took a deep dive into FAA data on near-misses between planes. So, as it turns out, airplanes are nearly crashing mid-air far more regularly than anyone initially thought. After a slew of almost-crashes over the past few months, The New York Times decided to take a deep dive into the issue. In fact, there have been at least 46 close calls involving commercial airlines in the last month alone. These incidents have reportedly been highlighted in preliminary FAA safety reports, but they haven’t been publicly disclosed. The outlet says that while there haven’t been any major...

Obama administration makes changes to Federal Aviation Administration because too many white males were passing their air traffic controller classes The Obama administration has abandoned the old system for getting qualified air-traffic controller applicants because too many of them were white males, and replaced it with a new system that asks applicants how many different sports they played when they were in high school.The Federal Aviation Administration has stopped giving preferential treatment to air-traffic controller applicants who had passed classes from the 36 FAA-approved college aviation programs across the U.S., because too many of the people who passed these classes were...

'We've engineered the biographical questionnaire in a way that we think will promote diversity.'" The initial hurdle for all applicants was based solely on a new, online biographical questionnaire that gave test takers instant results. "It didn't ask me anything about my college experience, my grades, my scores, (and) my ability for the actual job. It asked me what sports I played in high school. What was my least favorite subject in high school. Nothing related to aviation," remembered Meryhew

That’s the simple reality of Friday’s vote to ease the pain for the Federal Aviation Administration. By assenting to it, Democrats have agreed to sequestration for the foreseeable future. In effect, what Democrats said Friday was that in any case where the political pain caused by sequestration becomes unbearable, they will agree to cancel that particular piece of the bill while leaving the rest of the law untouched. The result is that sequestration is no longer particularly politically threatening, but it’s even more unbalanced: Cuts to programs used by the politically powerful will be addressed, but cuts to programs that...

A typo is keeping President Obama from signing legislation designed to end budget-related FAA air traffic controller furloughs blamed for widespread flight delays, a congressional source told CNN Saturday. But the fix is going into effect anyway, and the system will be back to normal by Sunday, the FAA said. Apparently the holdup boils down to an "s" needing to be added somewhere in the Senate version of the bill -- it's not clear which word is the culprit. The House fixed the typo in the version it passed Friday, and the Senate plans to fix it on Tuesday, a...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama is clearly playing a nasty political game with the air traffic controller furloughs that have forced severe airline delays across the country. It's not the first time he's exploited the budget-cutting sequestration law for political purposes. Earlier this year, he tried to stir up fears that our economy would be hit by fiscal Armageddon if the Republican House didn't submit to his tax-hiking, big-spending demands. But his hysterical claims that our food would be unsafe, America's defenses would crumble and the elderly would lose their benefits have proven to be groundless. A headline in Thursday's Washington...

... k Obama chided Republicans on Saturday for approving a plan to ease air-traffic delays caused by federal spending cuts while leaving budget cuts that affect children and the elderly untouched. The Senate and the House of Representatives backed a plan this week to give the Department of Transportation flexibility to cover immediate salaries of air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration who had been furloughed as part of budget cuts known as "sequester.

On a slow news day, this qualifies as breaking news. Democrats and Republicans have come together in rare bipartisan fashion to slap down the FAA’s sequester antics by increasing the spending flexibility of the agency to deal with a 4% reduction of a budget that’s gone up almost 10% over the last six years: In rare bipartisan accord, normally quarrelsome U.S. lawmakers passed a measure designed to end budget-related air traffic controller furloughs blamed for widespread flight delays.The House of Representatives approved the legislation, capping a major congressional initiative as delays snarled traffic at airports. The House vote comes a...

The Obama administration's second installment of sequester scare tactics is working about as well as its first go 'round. Run away: The White House has endorsed a plan to eliminate FAA spending cuts that have cause air travel delays across the country. The agency has been forced to furlough air traffic controllers as part of the automatic budget cuts that kicked in this spring. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to end the cuts by claiming savings from the draw down of war spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. Republicans reject his proposal calling it an accounting gimmick. Of course it's...

WASHINGTON – Legislation to end furloughs of air traffic controllers and delays for millions of travelers is headed to a House vote after a dark-of-night vote in the Senate that took place after most lawmakers had left the Capitol for a weeklong vacation. The bill passed late Thursday without even a roll call vote, and House officials indicated it likely would be brought up for quick approval there. Under the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration would gain authority to transfer up to $253 million from accounts that are flush into other programs, to "prevent reduced operations and staffing" through the...

The Senate took the first step toward circumventing sequestration Thursday night with a bipartisan vote that would put furloughed air traffic controllers back on the job. The House is expected to take up the measure Friday, and the White House has promised to consider any bill which it receives. The Senate vote came in response to passengers angered this week by long delays at several major airports. If the Senate bill wins House approval and is signed into law by President Obama, the furloughed controllers are not expected to return to work before Saturday

<p>WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate late on Thursday approved legislation to provide enough funding for federal air traffic controllers through Sept. 30 to end furloughs that have brought widespread airline delays. Several Senate aides said an agreement had been reached on a bill giving the Department of Transportation new flexibility to use unspent funds to cover the costs of air traffic controllers and other essential employees at the Federal Aviation Administration.</p>

Man Kills Air Traffic Controller After Family Dies In Crash POSTED: 2:42 pm EDT October 26, 2005 ZURICH, Switzerland -- A Russian architect whose family died when two planes collided acknowledged in court Tuesday that he later killed the air traffic controller who had been on duty, but said he could not remember doing it. Vitaly Kaloyev said he never wanted to cause physical suffering to anybody and only sought an apology from the head of the air navigation service Skyguide, whom he called the "main culprit" in the July 1, 2002, air crash that killed his wife and children....

WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration announced a plan Tuesday to hire 12,500 new air traffic controllers and let some existing workers stay on the job longer than their mandatory retirement age to offset a tidal wave of looming retirements. The plan outlined by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey also calls for speeding up training to get controllers on the job faster and reducing the workforce at airports with less air traffic. The genesis for the moves can be traced to 1981, when President Reagan fired more than 10,000 controllers and hired replacements. Nearly three-quarters of those workers will be eligible...

BUSH ADMINISTRATION ERRORS AGAIN IN LEAVING MAC LABOR SEAT COLD 10/25/2004 WASHINGTON – In a stinging, backhanded slap to the face of transportation labor just eight days before the presidential election, the Bush Administration has appointed three new members to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Management Advisory Council (MAC) while once again deliberately leaving the seat for a union representative vacant. The council advises the FAA on policy, budget and regulations. It was established by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 1996 and consists of 18 members who serve three-year terms. The president appoints 10 members and five more are appointed by...