Controller Refuses to Help Pilot

74 Gear youtube ^ | September 8, 2025 | 74 Gear

[Morgana]

Fuel is an essential part of what pilots prioritize, but this controller felt that wasn't anything they cared about.

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TOPICS: Travel
KEYWORDS:

[Morgana]

So air traffic controllers are also DEI hires?

[null and void]

yup

[Darksheare]

Yes.
If you’re white they hold you to high memory and other task standards.
Otherwise, you can be a blithering moron and get the job if your skin tone and pronouns fit the agenda quota.

[Equine1952]

You know this is scaring the 💩 out of everyone. That’s why no one is flying. NOT!

[Flaming Conservative]

Of course.

[alternatives?]

That goes back to Obama.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Dark DEI air controllers.

[Captainpaintball]

Let me guess, black woman?

[cherry]

Ther3 was a black air traff8c control teacher who would give basically the answers to the black students,.

[GranTorino]

No.

[Mark17]

So air traffic controllers are also DEI hires?

Some are, but I wasn’t. I started controlling aircraft in 1968. Our regulations were very specific. Do not engage in anything not directly related to ATC. I was amazed by all the stupid things people asked us to do. Usually, it wasn’t the pilots, it was other agencies that were always asking us for different things. As an example, I got a request from Security Police to let them know when aircraft taxied out for takeoff or taxied in after landing. I immediately called the CATCO. He said that’s a non ATC function. Don’t do it. He called the Security Police, and chewed their a$$es. That’s why we had a CATCO, to handle stuff like that. I would not deal with fuel issues either. That’s the airline’s responsibility to deal with. I might have used different words, but I would have said the same thing. Fuel, is your dispatcher’s responsibility. That controller might have had 20 aircraft lined up, awaiting IFR release. Oceanic release takes longer than domestic release, requiring a change in line. It was a nightmare sometimes, but by regulations, we didn’t do non ATC functions. If that pilot called the manager, he would quote him chapter and verse. We didn’t do non ATC functions.

[GaryCrow]

The controller isn’t a DEI hire, he actually sounds pretty competent albeit he’s acting like a jerk which is absolutely the norm at LaGuardia, JFK, or Newark. I’m an airline pilot and don’t like flying out of the New York area because it’s congested and the controllers are short tempered like this guy. He’s right though, fuel management isn’t his job and United should have put enough fuel on board for the expected taxi delays which are the norm at any New York area airport.

If you’re in the air and have fuel concerns you declare minimum fuel which gets you priority handling, if it’s too low you declare an emergency and land as soon as possible. If you’re taxiing out and don’t have enough fuel that’s because your company is trying to skimp on fuel and the captain didn’t make them add fuel. The controller is a jerk but he’s right, fuel management isn’t his problem in this case and that flight should have been carrying enough for what they needed. He’s basically saying “I’m busy and your poor planning isn’t my problem to fix”. Nobody was in danger because they hadn’t taken off, they could go back for the fuel they needed.

Full disclosure I didn’t listen to the whole video because the guy is complaining about a mostly self created problem and rude New York controllers aren’t exactly new.

[Mark17]

👍 My son is a USAF pilot. Yes, I thought the controller was a bit of a jerk. I would have tried to be a bit more diplomatic about it, but then again, if I am up to my rear with departures to get off, maybe I wouldn’t have been so diplomatic. It’s hard to say. Getting em up and getting em down is my responsibility, not worrying about their fuel status.