Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Scottlorado's Morning News Marty lens Ginagondec at Morning Chaos at
(00:03):
Newark Liberty Airport Liberty International Airport disruptions continue over the weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Joining us Now in the KA Common spart Health Studio
to talk more about it is koa's aviation expert at
Steve Cowell. Steve, thanks for your time. As always, I
think we have to start with a little bit of
background information here talk about these radars going dark. First off,
sounds like a terrifying situation that we see and the
FAA is called it a telecommunications issue in some situations.
So what does this likely look like and how is
(00:30):
crucial as this to flight operations?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, first of all, it's always crucial when you lose
you know, visuals on the airplanes that you're controlling. The
FA has dedicated technicians, some of which were actually laid
off because of the Dodge layoffs and which is really
too bad. But those technicians are the ones that keep
the system you know, upright and going, so you know,
(00:56):
it's it's extremely critical.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
How oh, we're learning about this now, but it sounds
like they've had these blackouts prior, whether months and years ago.
But we didn't know about as much about them. Is
that the case that you're aware of that this has
happened more regularly than we know.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
No, I think, well, first of all, there's a magnifying
glass right now on anything to do with aviation and
aviation safety. Second of all, you know they're critical, but
you know, people need to know that the system is
not the safety hasn't been jeopardized. The controllers respond by
(01:33):
slowing everything down. They just don't accept the amount of
arrivals and departures. You know. They make sure that there's
greater separation and root between the airplanes. But there's a
lot of airports in this area, and it's very very
difficult to bring in somebody and just say okay, here,
(01:54):
you're not busy over in your sector that part of
the country, Let's bring you in and have you control
these airplanes. It takes over a year to get a
controller up to full speed in that particular area.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
We've heard Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy really calling for just
an over overhaul of airport operations, new infrastructure, reducing the
flight capacity. Is there a short term fix and is
a long term fix feasible to see fewer outage blackouts.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Well, the long term fix is the answer. There is
no short term fix. What's going to happen is you're
going to see a reduction in flights going into Newark.
That's going to keep you know, you know, the safety
factor fairly high. But the FAA really doesn't talk to
(02:45):
their other divisions very well, nor do they talk to
other governmental agencies very well, and that has to improve
in order to coordinate you know, a greater amount of
safety at any given airport.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I want to go back to something talked about these
traffic controllers. If they come in from other regions, they
just can't get up to speed immediately. Well, that's the
other problem, because we've had in our news that with
these blackouts there's been a certain amount of stress PTSD
if you will. So these air traffic controllers then take
off thirty forty five days, there's not enough backfill of
those folks to come in.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Is that the other problem with it too. It's not
really a problem. I mean, the controllers have a very
stressful job. First of all, you can't even apply for
the job if you're over thirty two years old. Second
of all, you have to retire at fifty five. It's
much more stressful than even being a pilot. I mean,
you're constantly thinking in three dimensions.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Is there a pipeline though, I guess is my points there.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Has been a pipeline, But the FAA, because of their culture,
decided that years ago they didn't want to hire these
people that were coming out of colleges that trained as
air traffic controllers. Only recently did they reverse that decision.
(04:01):
So now they're able to hire these people that are
graduating with air traffic control knowledge and then put them
through an accelerated training program. But the fa passed on
that for many, many years, saying no, you have to
start from ground zero. And as a matter of fact,
they even turned away hundreds and hundreds of applicants that
(04:23):
had been through college programs. So this is a problem
of their own doing.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Steve, let's be candid for a little bit with your
aviation experience via a flight in or out of Newark.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Should I be worried, No, but you should be prepared
for delays, you know, and airlines are going to reduce
their flights going to Newark. You've got three airports in
the area, you know, LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark, and then
you've also got Teeterborough, a general aviation airport nearby. You've
got alternatives to get into that New York area. But
(04:58):
if you're going to plan to go to Newark, you
better plan on delays. The airlines, you know, have their
schedules much in advance, and I guarantee you they're reversing,
they're reducing down. That is the number of flights you
have flown through many administrations. I don't want to make
this political, but I'm just asking about the culpability and
responsibility of infrastructure when it comes to the to flying
(05:20):
in the FAA. Is it fair to blame this administration
the previous one for what ails us is? Just does
this go back decades to where we are now? It
goes back decades. It's the culture of the FAA, the
culture of the organization. As I said, you know, they
weren't hiring people that went through these collegiate air traffic
and control programs. They just didn't want to bother with that.
(05:42):
That's their fault, you know. Number number two. They've had
the ability to upgrade things, you know, for quite some time,
but the problem is getting through anything through the governmental
you know, Labrinith is just incredibly difficult. You know, the
(06:02):
culture of the FAA does not facilitate anything to move
at a fast pace.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Koas aviation expert at Steve Cowle. Steve, thanks for your
time and insight. As always we appreciate it. Thank you.
Scottlorado's Morning News Marty lens Ginagondec at Morning Chaos at
(00:03):
Newark Liberty Airport Liberty International Airport disruptions continue over the weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Joining us Now in the KA Common spart Health Studio
to talk more about it is koa's aviation expert at
Steve Cowell. Steve, thanks for your time. As always, I
think we have to start with a little bit of
background information here talk about these radars going dark. First off,
sounds like a terrifying situation that we see and the
FAA is called it a telecommunications issue in some situations.
So what does this likely look like and how is
(00:30):
crucial as this to flight operations?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, first of all, it's always crucial when you lose
you know, visuals on the airplanes that you're controlling. The
FA has dedicated technicians, some of which were actually laid
off because of the Dodge layoffs and which is really
too bad. But those technicians are the ones that keep
the system you know, upright and going, so you know,
(00:56):
it's it's extremely critical.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
How oh, we're learning about this now, but it sounds
like they've had these blackouts prior, whether months and years ago.
But we didn't know about as much about them. Is
that the case that you're aware of that this has
happened more regularly than we know.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
No, I think, well, first of all, there's a magnifying
glass right now on anything to do with aviation and
aviation safety. Second of all, you know they're critical, but
you know, people need to know that the system is
not the safety hasn't been jeopardized. The controllers respond by
(01:33):
slowing everything down. They just don't accept the amount of
arrivals and departures. You know. They make sure that there's
greater separation and root between the airplanes. But there's a
lot of airports in this area, and it's very very
difficult to bring in somebody and just say okay, here,
(01:54):
you're not busy over in your sector that part of
the country, Let's bring you in and have you control
these airplanes. It takes over a year to get a
controller up to full speed in that particular area.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
We've heard Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy really calling for just
an over overhaul of airport operations, new infrastructure, reducing the
flight capacity. Is there a short term fix and is
a long term fix feasible to see fewer outage blackouts.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Well, the long term fix is the answer. There is
no short term fix. What's going to happen is you're
going to see a reduction in flights going into Newark.
That's going to keep you know, you know, the safety
factor fairly high. But the FAA really doesn't talk to
(02:45):
their other divisions very well, nor do they talk to
other governmental agencies very well, and that has to improve
in order to coordinate you know, a greater amount of
safety at any given airport.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I want to go back to something talked about these
traffic controllers. If they come in from other regions, they
just can't get up to speed immediately. Well, that's the
other problem, because we've had in our news that with
these blackouts there's been a certain amount of stress PTSD
if you will. So these air traffic controllers then take
off thirty forty five days, there's not enough backfill of
those folks to come in.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Is that the other problem with it too. It's not
really a problem. I mean, the controllers have a very
stressful job. First of all, you can't even apply for
the job if you're over thirty two years old. Second
of all, you have to retire at fifty five. It's
much more stressful than even being a pilot. I mean,
you're constantly thinking in three dimensions.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Is there a pipeline though, I guess is my points there.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Has been a pipeline, But the FAA, because of their culture,
decided that years ago they didn't want to hire these
people that were coming out of colleges that trained as
air traffic controllers. Only recently did they reverse that decision.
(04:01):
So now they're able to hire these people that are
graduating with air traffic control knowledge and then put them
through an accelerated training program. But the fa passed on
that for many, many years, saying no, you have to
start from ground zero. And as a matter of fact,
they even turned away hundreds and hundreds of applicants that
(04:23):
had been through college programs. So this is a problem
of their own doing.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Steve, let's be candid for a little bit with your
aviation experience via a flight in or out of Newark.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Should I be worried, No, but you should be prepared
for delays, you know, and airlines are going to reduce
their flights going to Newark. You've got three airports in
the area, you know, LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark, and then
you've also got Teeterborough, a general aviation airport nearby. You've
got alternatives to get into that New York area. But
(04:58):
if you're going to plan to go to Newark, you
better plan on delays. The airlines, you know, have their
schedules much in advance, and I guarantee you they're reversing,
they're reducing down. That is the number of flights you
have flown through many administrations. I don't want to make
this political, but I'm just asking about the culpability and
responsibility of infrastructure when it comes to the to flying
(05:20):
in the FAA. Is it fair to blame this administration
the previous one for what ails us is? Just does
this go back decades to where we are now? It
goes back decades. It's the culture of the FAA, the
culture of the organization. As I said, you know, they
weren't hiring people that went through these collegiate air traffic
and control programs. They just didn't want to bother with that.
(05:42):
That's their fault, you know. Number number two. They've had
the ability to upgrade things, you know, for quite some time,
but the problem is getting through anything through the governmental
you know, Labrinith is just incredibly difficult. You know, the
(06:02):
culture of the FAA does not facilitate anything to move
at a fast pace.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Koas aviation expert at Steve Cowle. Steve, thanks for your
time and insight. As always we appreciate it. Thank you.
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