New York Airspace! What It Takes to Keep Millions of Passengers Safe Every Day, Expect Nothing Less

In this episode of the Old Fly Guy Podcast, we flip the script and explore aviation from a side most pilots and aviation fans rarely get to see — the people who shape the skies from the ground. Wade sits down with Ralph Tamburro, a highly respected aviation professional with 31+ years at the FAA and more than a decade with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It’s not just an interview — it’s a rare, insider-level conversation with someone who has worked at the very heart of the world’s most complex airspace.

Ralph’s experience spans traffic management, operational oversight, safety, and modernization initiatives that directly affect how millions of passengers travel each year. Very few people in aviation have had a front-row seat to both sides of the system — the FAA and a major airport authority — and even fewer are willing to talk openly about what really happens behind the scenes.

In this episode, listeners get unprecedented access to:

How the FAA and the Port Authority collaborate, negotiate, and occasionally wrestle over safety and efficiency
Why managing New York’s layered, high-density airspace is unlike anywhere else in the world
What actually goes into preventing delays, coordinating construction, and keeping airport traffic flowing
The slow march of technology in ATC — and what needs to change
The human side of air traffic control, including decision-making, communication, and family legacies in the career

Ralph shares candid stories and explains the complexities of air traffic management with clarity only a true insider can provide. His perspective is unique, unfiltered, and incredibly valuable for anyone who flies, works in aviation, or simply wants to understand how the national airspace system really works.