Holiday travel delays? That too, is the government’s fault!

November 18, 2009

This holiday season if you find yourself stranded in an airport, unless there’s a storm chances are it’s the government’s fault.

Reason TV took a look at our decades old air traffic control system and the political reason it’s never been modernized. I think Al Gore’s last good idea was privitizing air traffic control. It worked in Canada. But the politicians (ie: John Murtha) and the union don’t like that idea.

2 Responses to Holiday travel delays? That too, is the government’s fault!

michigan on November 19, 2009 at 9:16 am
Well, there is truth in the video, but it misses the mark a bit. Yes the system still runs on those little white pieces of paper called “strips”, but they do have a purpose when experiencing computer or power interruptions, they do not slow the system. Flight plans for scheduled carriers are computerized and are called “canned” flight plans. You only have to file a written flight plan or over the phone if you are non scheduled. Our ARTCC and local professional controllers are the best in the world, period. They manage and control safely the majority of air traffic in the WORLD (most air traffic in the world is in the U.S.). Canada does not have nearly the volume of flights per terminal area (airport) that we have here in the U.S.. In the video they state that air traffic has increased 3000%, well how many NEW major airports, not expansions, new runways, etc. have you seen built in the last 10 or 20 years? Zero. It’s the airspace around major hubs that people want to come and go from that is the core problem, not controllers, not airlines, airplanes nor pilots. Airspace saturation is so bad at O’Hare during rush hour, that it is mandatory that you have reservations to operate during those times. It’s listed in a book every pilot can access, how many flights per hour can operate with reservations into hubs, any more and the controllers can’t handle it safely even working 10 or 15 minute shifts on a scope. My point to solve this whole mess is that as much as we stand on our head to change this system, nothing much will improve it until we increase the number of large major hub airports around large cities, but that’s the politics of it; who wants to have a major airport as a neighbor? Yes I can personally attest that we have made improvements over the last 35 years, RVSM is one, but it’s an essential problem of too many flights and too little terminal airspace.
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Sam Adams on November 19, 2009 at 5:50 pm
It’s Reagan’s fault.
He fired the Air Traffic Controllers.
** That was too easy, good thing I’m not a lib. **
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