Free Republic

Some aviation experts argue the FAA’s focus on ‘diversity’ instead of ’merit' in hiring pilots and controllers is leading to serious safety concerns... As the U.S. Justice Department decides whether to pursue a criminal case against Boeing, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating dozens of airplane incidents since January, including one in which a Swiss Air jet almost collided with four other planes on the runway at JFK International Airport in New York City. The FAA has more than 100 aviation accidents and incidents since the beginning of 2024. These include airplane and helicopter crashes, equipment and mechanical malfunctions,...

What happened to the 1995 ruling my client won in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña? .. The corporate media are just now discovering what I learned in 2015, that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), under the direction of President Barack Obama, hires air traffic controllers (ATC) on the basis of race. Of course, President Biden, as part of his commitment to “equity,” took it further. His FAA “identified” certain disabilities as deserving of “special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,” including “epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, [and] psychiatric disability.” How in the world did it come to this? Twenty-nine years ago this...

VIDEO AT LINK............... This diversity stuff will get people killed......................

Close Call at Cincinnati(CVG).

As millions of Americans are expected to pack commercial flights over the July 4th holiday, the union representing the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic controllers says a recent government watchdog report is proof the agency and Congress must fix a “flawed staffing model.” “The status quo is no longer sustainable,” said Rich Santa, head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The union says that Congress must “require FAA to immediately implement” new staffing standards and “conduct maximum hiring.” “There are currently 1,200 fewer fully certified controllers today compared to ten years ago,” said Santa. “FAA’s flawed staffing model and...

The son of a millionaire surgeon has been charged with domestic terrorism for the second time in a month over his role in violent Antifa protests in Atlanta on Saturday. Francis 'Frankie' Carroll, 22, from Kennebunkport, Maine, is one of six people charged after riots over the death of a protester who allegedly shot a police officer. Details also emerged on Monday about the privileged backgrounds of several other rioters - most of whom travelled from their peaceful hometowns outside of Georgia to wreak havoc in the state. A police car was torched and buildings were vandalized on Saturday during...

The Boeing 737 and 777 came within 1,000 feet of a collision on the groundThe FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating an incident at John F. Kennedy International Airport that happened Friday night when a Boeing 777 taxied in front of a departing Boeing 737-900.The 737 was operated by Delta Air Lines, the 777 by American Airlines.According to the FAA, air traffic controllers “noticed another aircraft crossing the runway in front of the departing jetliner” and canceled the aircraft’s takeoff clearance.The statement continues, “Delta Air Lines Flight 1943 stopped its takeoff roll approximately 1,000 feet before reaching...

Friday at John F Kennedy International Airport, between a Boeing 777 headed to the UK and a Boeing 737 headed to the Dominican Republic. One plane was about to take off while the other was crossing the same runway. The collision was averted when an air controller noticed the two. Using an expletive, the air traffic controller attempted to stop the Delta aeroplane as it was preparing to take wing. "Delta 1943, cancel take-off clearance! Delta 1943, cancel take-off clearance!" the controller was captured saying in an audio recording made by LiveATC, a website that posts flight communications. The Delta...

Airline executives, under a barrage of criticism from the public, lawmakers and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have sought to shift blame for flight troubles this summer onto the nation’s air traffic control system. But federal data shows that airlines themselves are the biggest reason for delays in recent months and bear responsibility for an unusually high share of cancellations. The numbers, reported by airlines and released this past week by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, also confirm the experiences of many passengers: 2022 has been a rough year for air travel. Federal transportation officials say 88,161 flights were canceled through...

Denver, Colorado — Mountain States Legal Foundation today announced a major step forward on an effort to hold the Federal Aviation Administration accountable for Obama-era hiring practices that were designed to exclude better-qualified air traffic control candidates, in favor of less-qualified candidates, all due to the color of their skin. Federal judge Dabney Friedrich of the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia today approved class action certification for MSLF clients Andrew Brigida and Matthew Douglas-Cook and other aspiring air traffic controllers who scored highly on qualification tests but lost out on their dream jobs due to the FAA’s...

For those who are interested.....I monitor and track airplanes that fly over North Florida where I live, Civilian Passenger Planes, Military Planes and Private Aircraft, using a Raspberry Pi, ADS-B software from Flightaware.com, it's a hobby... Yesterday during a very busy day, all the traffic I was tracking just dropped off to almost nothing, I was convinced it was my equipment and started to investigate, changing cables, rebooting the Raspberry Pi, etc....nothing worked. I went on the Flightware Discussion boards looking for a solution and ran into an article just posted by someone else from Jacksonville who was reporting the...

The union representing the United States' air traffic controllers is suing the Trump administration over pay that's frozen as part of the partial government shutdown. The Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic controllers are among the 420,000 federal employees who have been deemed essential and have been ordered to work without pay during the shutdown, which began on Dec. 22 due to an impasse over funding for a wall along the U.S. southern border. This story developing. Check back for updates.

ATCs must necessarily be among the most skilled and competent federal government employees. In accordance with an Obama administration plan to “transform” the Federal Aviation Administration into a “more diverse workplace” however, the FAA has abandoned its merit-based hiring program for ATCs, as it implements a plan to hire 1,000 ATCs a year to replace a generation of retiring controllers. Congress can and should intervene in this unfortunate plan to restore sanity and safety to the skies, because it endangers people’s lives. ... It is expensive and time-consuming to train ATCs, and many candidates who believe they have what it...

And now a few gems from Air Traffic Control: ========================= Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles ." Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!" ========================= "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 degrees." "Centre, we are at 35,000 feet . How much noise can we make up here?" "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?" ========================= O'Hare Approach Control to a 747: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock , three miles, Eastbound." United 239: "Approach, I've always wanted to...

The Federal Aviation Administration has become consumed by diversity and inclusion. Prior to becoming so, the FAA worked with about 36 colleges to create the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative. The colleges offered nonengineering aviation degrees requiring basic courses in air traffic control and aviation administration. Graduates became qualified candidates for training as air traffic control specialists. The FAA gave hiring preferences to veterans, those with AT-CTI program degrees, references from administrators and high test scores. In 2013, resident Obama-appointed FAA Administrator Michael Huerta deemed that these hiring standards had not produced a pleasing mix of air traffic controllers when...

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...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Repairing the nation's crumbling roads and bridges was supposed to be an area ripe for bipartisan compromise between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump. Instead, Democrats are panning Trump's proposed $1 trillion overhaul and even Republicans are balking at some aspects of the emerging plan. The White House's self-proclaimed "Infrastructure Week" began with Trump appearing Monday with aviation officials and some prominent GOP lawmakers to announce plans to privatize the nation's air traffic control system and separate operations from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Sen. Charles Schumer says President Donald Trump’s plan to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system could mean higher costs for consumers. The New York Democrat and Senate minority leader said Sunday that the plan Trump announced on June 5 would give airlines too much control over costs. He also said that during any national security emergency, privatization could hamper communication between air traffic controllers and the Department of Defense. …

President Trump will seek to put a spotlight on his vows to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system and spur $1 trillion in new investment in roads, waterways and other infrastructure with a weeklong series of events starting Monday at the White House. The events — billed as “infrastructure week” — are part of a stepped-up effort since the president’s return a week ago from his first foreign trip to show that the White House remains focused on its agenda, despite cascading headlines about investigations into his administration’s ties to Russia. The president has invited executives from major airlines...

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why pilots trying to land at the Boise Airport were met with silence from air traffic controllers during the early hours of Nov. 19. Boise Police officers and paramedics were called out to the air traffic control tower at 2:41 a.m. for a welfare check after learning that pilots and airport officials had been unable to reach the tower operators, despite trying multiple radio frequencies, telephone and the emergency "red phone." The first officers on scene wrote in a report that after reaching a locked gate, they used a spotlight to flash the tower...