Posted on 11/18/2025 12:34:24 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
The FAA has long needed to hire 3,000 more air traffic controllers to fill vacant positions.
The Federal Aviation Administration lifted mandatory flight limits on Monday at 6 a.m. They were put in place to reduce the workload on short-staffed air traffic controllers at 40 large airports during the federal government shutdown.
The reductions affected passengers on thousands of flights and exposed a shortage of air traffic controllers that began more than a decade ago.
There is a need for 3,000 more controllers to work in towers and regional air traffic centers all over the country.
Controllers have been working mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks.
RELATED STORY | FAA lifts flight restrictions at 40 US airports after shutdown ends
Even before the shutdown, airlines had been scaling back flights during peak times to avoid delays caused by staffing challenges at major airports. The FAA, at times, will order ground stops when levels of controllers fall too low.
"We have not trained enough people to be air traffic controllers over the past 15 years," said Karen Feigh, aerospace engineering professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who contributed to a report for Congress about the shortage.
Lapses in funding during previous government shutdowns made the problem worse, slowing the long process of teaching new hires at the air traffic control academy in Oklahoma City.
"Training has often been lumped as a non-essential service and so therefore, we stop training people at the training center in Oklahoma," Feigh said. "It makes this huge gap so that people just don't come out in the numbers that we need them to come out."
Over the summer, Scripps News got a behind-the-scenes look at training...
(Excerpt) Read more at scrippsnews.com ...
Time to privatize ATC. And no Unions.
Smartwatch, Built-in Alexa, GPS, VO2 Max, HRV, Blood Oxygen, Sleep Monitoring, Women’s Health, Custom Reminders, Sports Tracking, 1.32” AMOLED, Compass, Altimeter (Bluetooth, Gold, 43mm)
Yes, it supports multiple global positioning systems, including China’s BeiDou, the US’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS, the EU’s Galileo, and Japan’s QZSS. This ensures accurate tracking for your running routes and other activities.
“I get all my notifications right on my wrist—texts, and calls. It’s super convenient because I don’t have to constantly check my phone, especially when I’m busy or on the go. I can even read messages or take calls directly from the watch, which is a nice time-saver.”
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$99.49
Some simple rules of the sky, a watch on every pilot’s hand, some servers, connections to radars, and some software is all it takes to put an air traffic controller in every cockpit.
No, not an organic shortage of ATCs. DEI ran off a large number of qualified controllers. But let’s avoid reality in perpetuity.
what is ADS-B? Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast uses the aircraft’s GPS position information and provides it to the mode S transponder allowing ATC to track the aircraft more accurately than radar does.
As of January 1, 2020, all aircraft operating within most US airspace are required to transmit certain information using ADS−B OUT avionics.
Briefly, ADS-B OUT transmits information from the aircraft to ground stations or satellites whereas as ADS-B IN avionics receives information from ground stations or satellite based systems.
The ADS-B required airspace in the US includes everywhere Mode C is required AND:
Class A, B and C airspace, Class E at or above 10,000’ MSL (but not below 2,500’ AGL).
Within 30nm of Class B (Mode C veil).
Above the ceiling and within lateral boundaries of Class B and C up to 10,000’.
Class E over Gulf of Mexico, at and above 3000’ MSL within 12 nm of US coast. The non-contiguous US is also included: Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico and Alaska.
https://ops.group/blog/ads-b-mandates-around-the-world/
We can’t admit that little detail. Obama was the starting point for the shortage of air traffic controllers.
I don’t understand why all the morons have their panties in a wad. Only 7.32% of them are going to FLY over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house. The greatest majority is going by auto.(89.83%).
To prevent collision, outside of takeoff/landing cones, waiting cones, abort cones, and transition space, aircraft might be required to fly due north at 22,800 feet, 30,000 feet, 37,200 etc., changing direction clockwise (or counterclockwise) by one degree for each 20 feet of height up (or down).
Planes flying in opposite directions would have 3,600 feet of altitude difference by rule.
Someday the government will send anyone who takes one off to prison.
-—A Luddite.
Reagan said “go to work or you’re fired”. Paraphrasing but pretty effective
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