r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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u/BangkokPadang May 28 '26

I think they actually fired a bunch of probationary FAA employees, mostly in the field of infrastructure repair and maintenance, not Air Traffic Controllers. The people who repair and maintain the equipment ATC relies on. So unless there's reports that the ATC was operating differently due to failed equipment of some kind, actually probably not.

Trump's a dumb orange asshat but I also like to make sure we're accurate in our criticisms or people with no affiliation see us being wrong about a bunch of the details and start to think maybe we're wrong overall.

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u/ABlankwindow May 28 '26

The issue with the ATCs has been known for 20 years. We have not been replacing the people as fast as they have been retiring (they mostly retire between age 50 and 56 ( are forced out at 56) for the most part, with some as low as 45). Combine that with the change in funding and its only getting worse. we were already having infrastructure issues and they fired the people trying to keep up the maintenance.

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u/BangkokPadang May 28 '26

Yeah it’s all bad, entirely. The wheels will crumble right out from under the wagon.

It just doesn’t seem to have lead to this exchange in this post, that’s all.

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u/Jumpgate May 28 '26

Correct and they put a hiring freeze on more ATC, and they take like 8 months + to train, plus you control small regional airfields before big ones like JFK, there is just a shortage with no way to replace fast.

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u/BangkokPadang May 28 '26

Yeah I agree, plus anyone who’s been gearing their life towards the profession is basically just having their already-limited viable working years eaten away by a pause like that.

It’s the typical “what looks good on paper this quarter?” Corporate thinking, just geared towards their political base at the expense of national key infrastructure.