Near misses went up 60% to record highs last year. The fact that it took until last week for midair to happen is a testament to pilot skill and technology.
February 1, 2025 at 1:33 am
eon
Imagine calling ATC and getting a “please wait for the next available controller” recording, followed by elevator music.
Still, that’s probably better than getting some slacker dude who takes a hit off his vape tube, goes “BONNNGGG, MAAANNN!!” and hangs up on you.
Or some female with a NOLA accent who talksreallyfastcan’tbeunderstoodandifyouaskhertorepeatherselfscreams thatyou’rearacisst.
Yes, had that actual experience with AT&T. Just for asking for help with a password reset.
The FAA does have “outside” employees in what they call their Contract Tower Program.They are found in US territories, and in the states they are usually found at smaller airports, so all told they represent almost half of all controllers. All of the contract controllers must meet the same qualification and training requirements as FAA air traffic controllers. The contract program started soon after Reagan dumped all the controllers that went out on strike back in 1981,
Reagan did not “dump” ATC’s, they dumped themselves when they broke their contract and went on strike. Remember right after that the Postal Workers were threatening strike, they settled down and came to an agreement and kept working. Funny how that works.
Besides the human ATCs, from what I hear the FAA’s air traffic control equipment, radios to radar, is about as up-to-date as California’s electrical grid.
Maybe with a real FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau and a real Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, there will be a much-needed evolution.
Beltway IT salesmen have been lusting after that “anyday soon now” FAA upgrade contract for 50 years, since the ahe of mainframes… and it still hasn’t happened the way it needs to happen.
Serious talk of updating the systems began about 25 years ago. It was around ’07 when the FAA made the big announcement of its NextGen system. Well, the start of it anyway. All these years later and it’s still a work in progress. Give the devil his due, though, and consider the massive scope of the project. And it’s not something you can simply shut down for repairs. I’ve heard some say updating the FAA system is like changing a tire on the front of a locomotive engine……..while the train is fully loaded and operating at maximum speed.
February 1, 2025 at 9:25 am
JohninMd.(HALP!)
All Govt. Computter systems are at LEAST 3 – 4 generations out of date – that might be a good thing, as Scottie said, “The more they modernise the plumbing, the easier it is to gum up the works!”, as he tosses a few control cubes on the table….
I spent a decade in federal sales for a trailing-edge computer manufacturer. Then I joined a leading edge startup, and my new salesman partner from flyover was so eager to neglect his new territory’s commercial prospects for some of that sweet federal money. I told him if he wanted to to sell to the federal government, he needed to backhoe a big hole, line it with plastic, dump a bunch of our product in it and bury it for ten years… then dig it up, and the federal agencies would be outbidding each other for that old equipment. He put me down as a cynic.
About eight years later, the very day we were scheduled to pull support for out original product (the 4x faster followon had been available for almost two years by then) some other salesman (not him) delivered an order from the USPS for over 250 of the version 1 systems at $1M each. Management badly wanted not to have to maintain spare parts that they were just about to scrap, so they offered USPS 250 of the new product for the same price (a 28% discount on the new units). USPS refused. Thought we were trying to cheat them.
Perhaps it’s time we make it policy to farm out _all_ government functions to independent contractors, or at least as many as we can get away with.
Granted it would be chaotic at first, and various congress critters are sure to find some way to game the system, but it would elevate the rot into the sunlight every time the contract was up.
There are huge flaws there as well.
Say you have company XYZ, LLC as the incumbent on a government contract for project/program 123.
Standard government contract, one year duration with 4 option years (assumes the company performs satisfactorily).
They screw the pooch repeatedly and get multiple CARs* and become ineligible for the next option year, or the next 5 year contract (1+4).
XYZ,LLC spins off a new firm “PDQ,LLC” and shifts some personnel over to it and bids on the new contract, winning by undercutting any competitors.
Then as they “transition” between the old company and the new, the old company employees all get offer letters, switch lanyards, and keep right on doing what they’ve been doing for years on end.
No worries. Javier’s new ‘AI’ aka ‘BidBot’ will win all Government contracts, perform ahead of schedule and under cost estimate ; )
February 1, 2025 at 1:39 pm
Oldarmourer
“To err is human, to really screw things up takes a computer”
I love the scam calls starting ‘my name is Joh-NA-than” or some other name you dodn’t think anyone screw the pronunciation of up that badly.
I’ve started answering “Thank you for calling, my name is Rajdeep, what can I do for you today ?”…that is, when I don’t just say “you’re a liar and a thief, get a real job!! then slam the phone down…and yes, the phone on my desk is still one you can slam down…and it’s staying there…far too many people today have never had a phone slammed down in their ear and it shows, pushing the ‘button’ on the screen harder just doesn’t convey the same message 🙂
Whenever there are fatalities involved the FAA steps aside and the NTSB takes over. In about a month or two the NTSB will release a preliminary report outlining the known facts of the incident. A final report detailing the cause of the crash will take at least a year or more before it is released.
That’s because they don’t havea stack of already completed ‘investigations’ in a drawer all saying “it was Trump’s fault” and really do take the time to look at everything involved in a crash with their reporrts giving reasons and recommendations…until the political appointee running the show buries it if it doesn’t say “it was Trump’s fault”.
I’ve been involved in a few crash investigations, it doesn’t matter if the cause was an obvious birdstrike, if your name is on any paperwork for that flight, you get a blood test for drugs/alcohol on the spot and an in depth questioning afterward…as it should be.
February 1, 2025 at 9:02 pm
Brass
Not a single person noticed the reference to Transformers.
Pres Trump notified Canada that despite Trudeau the Younger’s last minute pouting and posturing, since the only evidence of enhanced border security in the People’s Republic of Canuckistan (formerly Canada), the 25% tariff on all goods imported from Canuckistan (except energy) is going into effect.
Predictably, the Younger stomped his little feet. clenched his little fists and threatened to throw a tantrum. Trump reportedly suggested any such attempt would result in the tariffs being raised. If Trump follows the example given to Columbia, that would be jumping from 25% to 50%.
My biggest disappointment out of all of this is that Pierre Poilievre has remained basically silent. A few press releases, a lukewarm mention of the need to fix the border etc. I was hoping Poilievre would back up Premier (Canadian version of Governor) Danielle Smith in her call for the creation of a Border Czar position to liaise with Tom Homan and figure out a coordinate approach based on ICE’s experience since Canuckistan hasn’t defended the border since that time we burned the White House.
Why must all Canadian politicians disappoint me so?
The people have already been sold a bill of goods by the bought-and-paid-for media. 90% have no idea what a tariff is and the rest are the ones who want to spin it.
Poilievre is stuck between a rock and a hard place with the media just itching to say he’s ‘putting the US ahead of his own people’ if he says anything rational, while sockboy has just had a life preserver thrown toward his sinking ship of state.
Raising tariffs just means you’re adding a tax on products coming into the country so your own manufacturers can get a boost from their product suddenly being cheaper than the imports, never mind that US importers were already getting a 40% discount by paying in Cdn dollars.
I’m sure that Canadian orange farmers will pick up the slack from the tariff on US orange juice and prices won’t rise at all…and we’ll drop our 300% tariff on imported cheese to show we don’t do such things…
The thing about tariffs is that the companies in countries they’re aimed at don’t directly pay anything…but sockboy’s 25% tariff on orange juice, vegetables, clothes, etc. is an extra sales tax goes straight into gov’t coffers so he can fake a reduction in the deficit by raising taxes without ‘raising taxes’.
25 Comments
Probably get far superior service from a call center in Bangalore, than from the DIE hires of the Sparklefarts and Pedo Joe administrations.
Sad but true. Kind of surprised there hasn’t been more issues before this… unless it’s been happening and covered up?
Near misses went up 60% to record highs last year. The fact that it took until last week for midair to happen is a testament to pilot skill and technology.
Imagine calling ATC and getting a “please wait for the next available controller” recording, followed by elevator music.
Still, that’s probably better than getting some slacker dude who takes a hit off his vape tube, goes “BONNNGGG, MAAANNN!!” and hangs up on you.
Or some female with a NOLA accent who talksreallyfastcan’tbeunderstoodandifyouaskhertorepeatherselfscreams thatyou’rearacisst.
Yes, had that actual experience with AT&T. Just for asking for help with a password reset.
clear ether
eon
The FAA does have “outside” employees in what they call their Contract Tower Program.They are found in US territories, and in the states they are usually found at smaller airports, so all told they represent almost half of all controllers. All of the contract controllers must meet the same qualification and training requirements as FAA air traffic controllers. The contract program started soon after Reagan dumped all the controllers that went out on strike back in 1981,
Reagan did not “dump” ATC’s, they dumped themselves when they broke their contract and went on strike. Remember right after that the Postal Workers were threatening strike, they settled down and came to an agreement and kept working. Funny how that works.
Besides the human ATCs, from what I hear the FAA’s air traffic control equipment, radios to radar, is about as up-to-date as California’s electrical grid.
Maybe with a real FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau and a real Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, there will be a much-needed evolution.
Beltway IT salesmen have been lusting after that “anyday soon now” FAA upgrade contract for 50 years, since the ahe of mainframes… and it still hasn’t happened the way it needs to happen.
Serious talk of updating the systems began about 25 years ago. It was around ’07 when the FAA made the big announcement of its NextGen system. Well, the start of it anyway. All these years later and it’s still a work in progress. Give the devil his due, though, and consider the massive scope of the project. And it’s not something you can simply shut down for repairs. I’ve heard some say updating the FAA system is like changing a tire on the front of a locomotive engine……..while the train is fully loaded and operating at maximum speed.
All Govt. Computter systems are at LEAST 3 – 4 generations out of date – that might be a good thing, as Scottie said, “The more they modernise the plumbing, the easier it is to gum up the works!”, as he tosses a few control cubes on the table….
I spent a decade in federal sales for a trailing-edge computer manufacturer. Then I joined a leading edge startup, and my new salesman partner from flyover was so eager to neglect his new territory’s commercial prospects for some of that sweet federal money. I told him if he wanted to to sell to the federal government, he needed to backhoe a big hole, line it with plastic, dump a bunch of our product in it and bury it for ten years… then dig it up, and the federal agencies would be outbidding each other for that old equipment. He put me down as a cynic.
About eight years later, the very day we were scheduled to pull support for out original product (the 4x faster followon had been available for almost two years by then) some other salesman (not him) delivered an order from the USPS for over 250 of the version 1 systems at $1M each. Management badly wanted not to have to maintain spare parts that they were just about to scrap, so they offered USPS 250 of the new product for the same price (a 28% discount on the new units). USPS refused. Thought we were trying to cheat them.
Yep, high-tech brings high-tech problems.
Headline today: World’s largest solar power plant (in California) headed for closure — just 11 years after construction.
Step 1:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-admin-emails-air-traffic-controllers-quit-your-jobs/ar-AA1ycz7X?ocid=BingNewsSerp&cvid=998cc4bd8ce2439b8e8c53fd10640140&ei=14
Looks like MSN is stepping up it’s “Weekly World News” game.
Perhaps it’s time we make it policy to farm out _all_ government functions to independent contractors, or at least as many as we can get away with.
Granted it would be chaotic at first, and various congress critters are sure to find some way to game the system, but it would elevate the rot into the sunlight every time the contract was up.
There are huge flaws there as well.
Say you have company XYZ, LLC as the incumbent on a government contract for project/program 123.
Standard government contract, one year duration with 4 option years (assumes the company performs satisfactorily).
They screw the pooch repeatedly and get multiple CARs* and become ineligible for the next option year, or the next 5 year contract (1+4).
XYZ,LLC spins off a new firm “PDQ,LLC” and shifts some personnel over to it and bids on the new contract, winning by undercutting any competitors.
Then as they “transition” between the old company and the new, the old company employees all get offer letters, switch lanyards, and keep right on doing what they’ve been doing for years on end.
Corrective Action Requests.
No worries. Javier’s new ‘AI’ aka ‘BidBot’ will win all Government contracts, perform ahead of schedule and under cost estimate ; )
“To err is human, to really screw things up takes a computer”
I love the scam calls starting ‘my name is Joh-NA-than” or some other name you dodn’t think anyone screw the pronunciation of up that badly.
I’ve started answering “Thank you for calling, my name is Rajdeep, what can I do for you today ?”…that is, when I don’t just say “you’re a liar and a thief, get a real job!! then slam the phone down…and yes, the phone on my desk is still one you can slam down…and it’s staying there…far too many people today have never had a phone slammed down in their ear and it shows, pushing the ‘button’ on the screen harder just doesn’t convey the same message 🙂
(( looks like lowkeyy knows how gummit work works))
But think the FAA will say how this happened..?
Really…
Got one word for yah…
..har…
The FDA wud come closer…innit.
Whenever there are fatalities involved the FAA steps aside and the NTSB takes over. In about a month or two the NTSB will release a preliminary report outlining the known facts of the incident. A final report detailing the cause of the crash will take at least a year or more before it is released.
That’s because they don’t havea stack of already completed ‘investigations’ in a drawer all saying “it was Trump’s fault” and really do take the time to look at everything involved in a crash with their reporrts giving reasons and recommendations…until the political appointee running the show buries it if it doesn’t say “it was Trump’s fault”.
I’ve been involved in a few crash investigations, it doesn’t matter if the cause was an obvious birdstrike, if your name is on any paperwork for that flight, you get a blood test for drugs/alcohol on the spot and an in depth questioning afterward…as it should be.
Not a single person noticed the reference to Transformers.
Ah, well. 😉
Pres Trump notified Canada that despite Trudeau the Younger’s last minute pouting and posturing, since the only evidence of enhanced border security in the People’s Republic of Canuckistan (formerly Canada), the 25% tariff on all goods imported from Canuckistan (except energy) is going into effect.
Predictably, the Younger stomped his little feet. clenched his little fists and threatened to throw a tantrum. Trump reportedly suggested any such attempt would result in the tariffs being raised. If Trump follows the example given to Columbia, that would be jumping from 25% to 50%.
My biggest disappointment out of all of this is that Pierre Poilievre has remained basically silent. A few press releases, a lukewarm mention of the need to fix the border etc. I was hoping Poilievre would back up Premier (Canadian version of Governor) Danielle Smith in her call for the creation of a Border Czar position to liaise with Tom Homan and figure out a coordinate approach based on ICE’s experience since Canuckistan hasn’t defended the border since that time we burned the White House.
Why must all Canadian politicians disappoint me so?
The people have already been sold a bill of goods by the bought-and-paid-for media. 90% have no idea what a tariff is and the rest are the ones who want to spin it.
Poilievre is stuck between a rock and a hard place with the media just itching to say he’s ‘putting the US ahead of his own people’ if he says anything rational, while sockboy has just had a life preserver thrown toward his sinking ship of state.
Raising tariffs just means you’re adding a tax on products coming into the country so your own manufacturers can get a boost from their product suddenly being cheaper than the imports, never mind that US importers were already getting a 40% discount by paying in Cdn dollars.
I’m sure that Canadian orange farmers will pick up the slack from the tariff on US orange juice and prices won’t rise at all…and we’ll drop our 300% tariff on imported cheese to show we don’t do such things…
The thing about tariffs is that the companies in countries they’re aimed at don’t directly pay anything…but sockboy’s 25% tariff on orange juice, vegetables, clothes, etc. is an extra sales tax goes straight into gov’t coffers so he can fake a reduction in the deficit by raising taxes without ‘raising taxes’.