So "DEI hires" are blamed--without a tiny shred of evidence--for the plane collision?

[Fantine]

Here's what has happened since President Trump took office on January 20.

January 20: FAA director fired
January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen
January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded
January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees
January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years

A commentator noted that there is a severe shortage (1800 people) of air traffic controllers. The current controllers are working ten hour days, sixty hours a week, in high stress positions.

Secretary Buttigieg has been hiring and training controllers as fast as he can, but the FAA school in Oklahoma City lacks the capacity to train them quickly enough.

And now, of course, they sent buyouts to all the existing controllers (in one of the most stressful jobs anyone can have) and froze new hiring. We're down 1800 now...

I'm supposed to fly to my sister's wedding in three weeks--from a perhaps 15 gate airport to a perhaps 20 gate airport. Not much action around the areas, so hopefully it will be all right. Thank you (not!) President Trump for compromising my safety and that of my entire family as we travel to my sister's wedding in Florida. SMH.

 

[NxNW]

There is already a thread on this under News.

 

[RileyG]

Trump said something silly. I'm more concerned about his works and actions. And, YES, I admit he has a very odd way of speaking.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Trump said something silly. I'm more concerned about his works and actions. And, YES, I admit he has a very odd way of speaking.

We don't need "silly" we need serious leadership.

 

[RileyG]

We don't need "silly" we need serious leadership.

With Harris as VP in the past four years, she was the definition of silly in "serious" leadership.

All she did was cackle.

Nice try, though.

Trump is a real leader, unlike Biden or Harris.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

And President Trump caused this severe shortage, ten hour days, sixty hour weeks how? This has been going on for years.

Comming from someone In an undermaned Navy who spent eight months in the Middle East/Red Sea in a high stress, high tempo environment under daily drone and missle attacks from Iranian backed terrorists working 14 hour days seven days a week, around 100 hours a week.

And, unlike the Civilian Air Traffic Controllers who do get overtime, there's nothing extra for military members for working extended hours.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Here's what has happened since President Trump took office on January 20.

January 20: FAA director fired
January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen
January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded
January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees
January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years

A commentator noted that there is a severe shortage (1800 people) of air traffic controllers. The current controllers are working ten hour days, sixty hours a week, in high stress positions.

Secretary Buttigieg has been hiring and training controllers as fast as he can, but the FAA school in Oklahoma City lacks the capacity to train them quickly enough.

And now, of course, they sent buyouts to all the existing controllers (in one of the most stressful jobs anyone can have) and froze new hiring. We're down 1800 now...

I'm supposed to fly to my sister's wedding in three weeks--from a perhaps 15 gate airport to a perhaps 20 gate airport. Not much action around the areas, so hopefully it will be all right. Thank you (not!) President Trump for compromising my safety and that of my entire family as we travel to my sister's wedding in Florida. SMH.

Trump pretty much forced the crash, right?

 

[Say it aint so]

Trump pretty much forced the crash, right?

No, he didn't. But reckless firing of federal workers or even parachute retirements aren't going to help. Most large companies have a strategy of laying people off, and when they do, they strategize layoffs so it won't hurt the company. Not Trump. He just wings it without regard. And with that said, it would maybe, just maybe, behoove him to know what he's talking about before speaking.

 

[Fantine]

My post is different. It's not about his blame shifting falsehoods.
It is about what has happened in the past two weeks that have made every single airline passenger less safe.
Read it, get your cars tuned up, and cancel your flights

 

[Fantine]

With Harris as VP in the past four years, she was the definition of silly in "serious" leadership.

All she did was cackle.

Nice try, though.

Trump is a real leader, unlike Biden or Harris.

So your definition of leadership is callous, brutal dictatorship?
That's not democracy.

 

[High Fidelity]

It’s a stupid comment, but there are clearly red flags around the whole situation.

It seems like there has been commentary around the airport’s capacity being exceeded for a long time in either infrastructure terms or staffing terms, neither of which are ideal in one of the most regulated airspace in the world.

That said, the circumstances don’t sound uncommon for that airport in terms of helicopters transiting where this happened, and that it’s likely just an accident due to human error.

Watching the video it seems pretty apparent that the helicopter was at fault. They’re given authority to navigate that airspace knowing they can move more freely to avoid aircraft on more fixed flight patterns, and you simply can’t expect a plane on final approach to be the reactive party there.

I really don’t think this has anything to do with DEI. ATC warned and directed the helicopter, it was acknowledged and seemingly confusion entered and here we are. Maybe the helicopter had visual on the wrong aircraft to avoid, or misjudged the rate at which they were converging.

Very sad event, BUT it also highlights how rare they are, and how safe aviation is as a whole.

Hopefully the facts can be established with as little silliness as possible. Comments like Trump’s don’t help the situation, and they don’t help grieving families, some of whom will no doubt be an indirect target of his comments which rubs salt in the wound.

 

[Hazelelponi]

Here's what has happened since President Trump took office on January 20.

Let's examine shall we?

January 20: FAA director fired

No one fired the director of the FAA.

Elon Musk, who had zero authority to fire anyone in our government at the time, had made public comment months ago about Biden's FAA director needing to resign (due to poor job performance) and the FAA director up and quit on January 20 without notice and without training his replacement.

I have been required to give a 30 day notice and train my replacement at a job that was not a matter of life and death in the past, so I can't imagine not giving up to 6 months official notice in a position like director of the FAA, where it is a matter of life and death and confirmations take time.

That tells me Elon Musk might have been right about Biden's FAA director being negligent in his duties, he certainly didn't have any concern for the responsibility he held.

FAA Chief Quit on Jan. 20 After Elon Musk Told Him to Resign

Michael Whitaker had only been in the role for a year but the SpaceX chief accused him of “harassment.”

www.thedailybeast.com

January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen

There was never an Air Traffic Controller hiring freeze.

There was an executive order implementing a federal civilian workforce hiring freeze:

"Trump's order does not apply to military personnel or positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.

It is unclear whether the freeze prevents the FAA from hiring new air traffic controllers or if these roles fall under public safety professionals."

But of course, we all know ATC does fall under public safety professionals.

There's no way that 8 days without a freeze on non-safety related civilian employees would have made any difference to the incident. Just none. It wasn't janitorial trainees they were relying on that night.

It would be more plausible to say that had Biden's FAA director been hiring competent help at the required levels for safety prior to quitting his job without notice, this incident is probably far less likely to have happened.

Did Donald Trump freeze hiring of air traffic controllers? What we know

Democrats previously hit out at the president's federal hiring freeze for hindering the "number one safety issue" in aviation.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Sif]

As someone who does investigations (NOTE: I am NOT an NTSB Investigator), I can say you have to be careful. Somethings I was taught include remembering "correlation does not mean causation", and ignore higher-ups and supervisors giving their opinions/views. Conduct the investigation and see what the evidence says.

Some have suggested DEI is to blame, and others the actions of the Trump administration in the days prior. I would argue that at this point it cannot be known. Sure, either, or even both, might be possible, but let's see where the evidence takes us.

Don't be too eager to jump to a conclusion on anything, even (or maybe especially) if it appears to fit a narrative/view you might like or support.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

With Harris as VP in the past four years, she was the definition of silly in "serious" leadership.

All she did was cackle.

Nice try, though.

Trump is a real leader, unlike Biden or Harris.

Unconscious bias against disabled people is reported more than any other social group.
More than one in three people show an unconscious bias against those with a disability, higher than levels of bias based on gender or race.

Thank you Mr. Trump for reinforcing this bias.

 

[RileyG]

So your definition of leadership is callous, brutal dictatorship?
That's not democracy.

No? I don’t see Trump as a dictator.

 

[RileyG]

Unconscious bias against disabled people is reported more than any other social group.
More than one in three people show an unconscious bias against those with a disability, higher than levels of bias based on gender or race.

Thank you Mr. Trump for reinforcing this bias.

What does your post have to do with mine!

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

What does your post have to do with mine!

You say "trump is a real leader." His leadership is one of reinforcing biases, disparities, inequalities and exclusion.

 

[Fantine]

No? I don’t see Trump as a dictator.

I wasn't referring to how you see Trump. I was referring to Trump's style of leadership.

 

[RileyG]

I wasn't referring to how you see Trump. I was referring to Trump's style of leadership.

Ok? I disagree with that description of his leadership.

 

[durangodawood]

Apparently there has been an ATC shortage for a long time now. And near misses have become way too common.

My hot take is Congress needs to spend more on the FAA so that the ATC job can be made more attractive to people. To me ATC looks like a terrible stressy high stakes job.

(Trumps DEI insertion is just his typical stupidity that should be ignored.)