Who Is to Blame for Your Delayed Flight?
Often it isn’t the airline. July 3, 2023 1:27 pm ET Private planes sit parked on the tarmac in Scottsdale, Ariz. Photo: Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press As a former air-traffic controller, I can attest that the controllers union, Natca, along with the incompetent Federal Aviation Administration, implement policies that exacerbate the shortages of controllers (“Stuck on the Airport Tarmac,” Review & Outlook, June 29). The training backlog is due to the unnecessary snail’s pace of the training. It shouldn’t take three to five years to train a controller. In my training, I spent half the time in a classroom—awaiting training. NATCA also pushes for air-traffic control facilities to be understaffed, so it can strong-arm the FAA for more overtime and favorable work conditions. The FAA and the union, not the airline, deserve the blame for your flight delay or can
Private planes sit parked on the tarmac in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Photo: Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
As a former air-traffic controller, I can attest that the controllers union, Natca, along with the incompetent Federal Aviation Administration, implement policies that exacerbate the shortages of controllers (“Stuck on the Airport Tarmac,” Review & Outlook, June 29). The training backlog is due to the unnecessary snail’s pace of the training. It shouldn’t take three to five years to train a controller. In my training, I spent half the time in a classroom—awaiting training.
NATCA also pushes for air-traffic control facilities to be understaffed, so it can strong-arm the FAA for more overtime and favorable work conditions. The FAA and the union, not the airline, deserve the blame for your flight delay or cancellation.
Ted Holland
Denver
Your editorial concludes, “Summer travel dysfunction doesn’t have to be inevitable. It’s the product of incompetent government.” Is there some other kind of government?
Bob Sarver
Decatur, Ill.
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