Last Friday, as you’ve probably seen in the news by now, a huge piece of the wall of an Alaska Airlines jet blew out in midair.

The gaping hole in the side of the airplane was easily big enough for a person to pass through — because it was, in fact, a panel that fits in where an extra door could be installed in that particular Boeing model.

Fortunately — and perhaps amazingly — no one was sucked out of the plane, which was flying at roughly 440 miles per hour at an altitude of 16,000 feet (that’s over three miles up in the air). No serious injuries were even reported.

That is, in part, because the flight crew were able to work with air traffic controllers to safely and quickly land the plane just 10 minutes or so after the blowout.

We’ll have more to say in the future about Boeing. But right now let’s talk about those air traffic controllers.

America’s air traffic control system is understaffed — to an alarming degree.

• According to an article last August in The New York Times only 3 of our country’s 313 air traffic control facilities have as many fully certified controllers as they should have according to targets set by the Federal Aviation Administration and the controllers’ union.

• In other words, 310 out of 313 air traffic control facilities in America are understaffed!

• This staffing shortage dates all the way back to 1981, when then-President Ronald Reagan infamously fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers.

• More recently, many controllers left during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, as the article notes, “the FAA slowed the pace of training new ones because of health restrictions.”

It is up to Congress to provide the funding necessary for addressing our nation’s dire shortage of air traffic controllers.

Tell Congress:

How many close calls is it going to take? We urge you to ACT IMMEDIATELY and provide the funding needed to address our nation’s insane shortage of air traffic controllers before a preventable catastrophe strikes.

Click to add your name now.

Thanks for taking action.

For progress,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
 
 
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