November 20, 2025 • 19 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Take twenty nine fifty five KERCD talk station. Man
Thursdays have not been the same of late. You know
how much I love talking to iHeart media aviation expert
Jay Ratlift, and he is back after about of Bell's palsy.
Jay Ratlift's so happy to have you on. Did you
feel the power of prayer coursing through your body from
my listening audience, Jay Ratlift.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I did, indeed, sir, I did. Indeed.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
In fact, I got a lot of emails after about
the second or third week saying hey, I've missed you,
and I thought, wow, I took a while for him
to miss the fact I wasn't there. But no, I
got some very nice emails and a lot of people
were chiming in as far as their experiences with Bell's
paulsy and yeah, I was getting ready for church the
last Sunday of October, looked in the mirror and the
left side of my face was drooping and I thought, well.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
That's not right.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Stroke went straight to the e. Well, you know that
was my first thought. But there was any other stroke
related symptoms. And I know that because I have a daughter.
That's the heart and vascular ICU nurse. But you know,
I promised my girls anytime that something didn't look right,
off to the hospital I go. And I did, and
they quickly assessed me and said it was Belle's palsy
viral infection. It was mild, and they said, Jay, we
(01:06):
don't know if it's going to be days, weeks, or
months before we were able to get back, you know,
to where it's normal. And you know, fortunately it was
a mild case. The saddest part was my family didn't
seem to mind me talking less, and that was I
wasn't really ready for that ultra dose of compassion. But no,
it it went well. And Buddy, I missed my routine.
(01:30):
I yeah, still doing my trading stocks, is still training,
but you know, the routine of which day it is.
As far as my radio stuff as I have stuff
around the country, there were days I had to remind
myself what day of the week it was, and that
was so I'm glad to have.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The routine back, and so are my listening audience and
me very much. I just I find this the segment
so fascinating and often quite comical. We will get to
a comical one at the tail end of our discussion
this morning. Let us talk and you missed out quite
a bit of aviation news. There wasn't a day or
a week that went Biden say, man, I wish Jay
Ratliffe was in better tradition. Yeah, I guarantee you Joe
(02:10):
would have called you for a you know, an out
of the ordinary segments on some other day of the
week because of what was going on. So let's move
past the shutdown and let's talk about the Trump administration
has decided to withdraw the cash compensation rule that would
have required airlines to pay cash for delays. Did the
shutdown and all the complications in the literally thousands of
(02:30):
flights that were canceledor delayed have anything to do with
this decision? What's behind this Jay ratlift?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Well, well, it's the fact that the Trump administration is
a very cozy relationship with airlines. We've talked about this,
Oh yeah, this was this was a Biden something that
Joe Biden his administration put him about a year ago.
And this cash compensation rule, which is what we referred
to it as said, Look, if you're a passenger and
you're delayed more than three hours or more, you're going
(02:57):
to be entitled to cash compensation, guaranteed meals, lodging when necessary,
and ground transportation when it applies. And of course, when
Donald Trump was elected, which I was very glad to see,
airline stocks hole went up and people said, well, Jay,
why would that be the case, And I said, well,
to be candid, there's a very good relationship there was
(03:17):
in the first administration between Trump and the airlines and
the Biden administration. And you've heard me say this repeatedly.
Even though I did not care for it at all,
they did try to hold airlines accountable and they did
more in that regard than any other presidential administration that
I can remember, going back three decades. They absolutely hammered
airlines trying to hold them accountable. And then, of course
(03:39):
once the Trump administration takes over, and after yes, the
airlines donated a million dollars each to the Trump inaugural fund.
Boeing was in that line as well. It was like, okay,
it was just it was there. You knew what was
going to happen. And of course Boeing, remember they pleaded
guilty to a lot of criminal issues in connection with
the Boeing Max crashes that we had a number of
(04:01):
years ago. After Trump gets elected, they go back to
the Department Transportation asking if they could withdraw some of
that and kind of have it.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Revisited, and they did and.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
They nothing went to trial of find that was it.
So it really bothered me, and I wasn't surprised at
all because I knew that that was going to go
off the table, even though other countries around the world
have something similar to this in place. It's the airlines
to tell the government what they're going to do many places,
and refreshingly, that wasn't the case during the last four years,
(04:36):
and I was really glad to see it. But the
reality that the Donald Trump administration would continue that same
course was a real slight consideration, and I wasn't surprised.
I was ticked because I really wanted to see it
in place. It needed to be in place, but unfortunately
it's not.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, what would the financial landscape look like if the
rules in place and they were required to issue cash
compensation for the delays and the cancelations after what happened
during the shutdown, Well.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Let's see the cat you mean to the airlines, They
Delta and United would not be allowed to report or
wouldn't be able to report a billion dollars in profits
in a single quarter.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
That's probably the number one thing.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Because you know when you're actually being forced to compensate
passengers when you screw up. And I'm not talking about
weather delays and things like that, but when you intentionally
schedule more flights than you know you can pull off,
and you're counting on a percentage of those canceling, which happens.
That's why they overbook flights. There's going to be a
percentage of people. And there's airlines that have thirty five
(05:43):
gates available at a time, and they'll schedule forty airplanes
to arrive at the same time, counting on five of
them being laid. Yet will all forty get there at
the same time, Well, five have to be sitting out
on the tarmac and you and I've been through that.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Well, there's that's culpability there. At least you can point
to a decision they made which as exposed as them
because they chose to overbook, unlike say, an act of
God kind.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Of thing, which those things wouldn't be covered under this right.
It would be a late arriving crew repeating mechanical issues.
These types of things that you know squarely could fall
on the lap of the airlines. And now what they
do when we have those issues, Brian, they'll give us.
Here's five thousand frequent flyer.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Mons, right, big apology there.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, Well, and I suppose air traffic control is not
showing up because of government action or inaction as the case.
Maybe that also is. Isn't the airline's fault. They didn't
tell the f the employees who are mandatory or necessary
not to show up to work causing problems.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
So no ripple effects on them, right, A real quick
ps to that. You know airlines were mandated to reduce
their flight activity in those supporting airports.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yes, they were ordered to, and we'll talk about that next.
Because that order mandating reductions over effective this past Monday
at six am. Did it have any effect? Are we
okay to travel? Thanksgiving? That we will talk about coming
up next among other topics with Jay Ratliffe, the return
of Jay Ratliff. What a wonderful thing. Don't go away?
Fifty five KRC the talk station. Have you ever been
(07:11):
in the cockpit before? Jay Ratliffe has the return of
Jay Ratliffe after a brief health stint with Bell's policy.
Is so pleased to have them back on the program,
and there was much rejoicing. Okay, the FAA Entity Emergency
Order mandating reductions reductions brought about. I guess because while
this shutdown was going on, in spite of the fact
they were guaranteed to get their pay and they are
essential employees, air traffic controllers were choosing to take days off,
(07:33):
calling in sick. And I get that on some level,
maybe they had to go out and get another job,
but it happened, and so we had to reduce flights.
That's over effect of this past Monday at six am.
Are things looking good in terms of air traffic control?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Now?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Have they come back to work? Are we on schedule?
Jay Ratlift, Yeah, We're We're on schedule.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Now.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Keep in mind, before the shutdown, we still were battling
with a shortage of air traffic controllers. Oh ye're averaging
averaging per day about thirty nine hundred flight delays a day.
So when we get back to normal, we can measure
that by are we seeing less than four thousand delayed
flights today? If so, yeah, we're right in check. So
(08:12):
we have gotten back to that. In fact, airlines have
made it clear that look, they're gonna have all hands
on deck. Schedule is going to be at full capacity
for what, in his essence, the busiest travel week of
the year, which is the busy Thanksgiving travel period. You
have the busiest day of the week historically the Sunday
after Thanksgiving. The second busiest day of the year is
typically the Wednesday before. So airlines have made it clear
(08:35):
that they do not anticipate any issues for that, and
they did say at six am on Monday that those
restrictions that they had in place at those forty airports
to reduce the traffic by I think it was four
or five six percent something along those lines, they were
going to increase it to ten percent. We never had
to get to that. But the FAA also noted Brian
(08:57):
that not all airlines restrict did the number of their
flights at those airports as they were required to do. Now,
the FAA has said for any airline that did not
do what they were supposed to, they're going to seek
a fine of US seventy five thousand dollars for every
flight operated above that mandated limit. Now I can tell
(09:18):
you some airlines are going to be hit with a fine,
and I'm going to tell you most of those airlines
it's going to be negotiated down or go away. We're
back to that same arrogance of the airlines and the
airlines kind of telling the government what they're going to
do instead of the other way around. And it frustrates me.
But that's just the reality of the power of the
lobbying group that you really have with the airlines, and
(09:38):
it's going to continue to be the case. So I'm
excited that they are going to be held accountable with
a possible seventy five thousand dollars per flight fine, but
I know it's not going to stick.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Well, if you got that much power, any of the fools,
one that's not looking out for his or her own
best interests, you have to at least make the argument
that you should lower it. Now you're asking for seventy
five thousand, how about we write you check for ten
and hopefully you land someplace in the middle or closer
to the lower side if you're the airline. But of
course you're going to try to haggle. That doesn't mean
the government has to concede to your demands.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
But I just would like for all it maybe oh
fifty thousand in IRS taxes?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Can we negotiate that down to like thirty I don't
think so. There's some company it's not fair.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
There's some companies out there that advertise all the time
on various radio programs saying they can do exactly that.
You know, you're on the hook for the IRS for
fifty grand.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
That's in penalties and things like that. I know if
you haven't known what you're supposed to. But Brent, it
just bothers me because there's a safety related fine where
the fa you know, hit some airline with a four
million dollars you didn't do the maintenance you were supposed
to find it's negotiated down to like a third of
that as long as they promise never to do it again.
And it just it just I walk around and banging
(10:47):
my head off the wall, because it's just how are
we going to learn a lesson if it doesn't have
some teeth in it when you're actually talking about consequences
for actions that they knew not to do.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Well, And you know there's other thing is which is
avoiding the problem in the get go by continuing to
pay the air traffic controllers during a shutdown, and I
know there was a meeting yesterday with the Senate Aviation
Subcommittee hearing they were talking about just that now we
could pick areas of government that you've got to pay
these people period in the story. Look what happened last
time when these particular people weren't paid, They didn't show up,
didn't do the job, and we couldn't fly an airplane.
(11:20):
I know because I learned during this shutdown that banks
will provide government employees with interest free loans, knowing full
well that the government is going to pay them back
when they go back to work. The money is sound secure,
there's no issue with regard to losses. You enter into paperwork,
you pay them back when you get your paycheck, no problem.
I found out there's something called the Airport and Airway
(11:41):
Trust Fund. They have their own trust fund, and there
was some discussions about listen, let us tap into the
air to this trust fund, pay our employees, and then,
of course, like the banks get paid back when they
come back to work, we can refund the trust fund.
What is wrong with that as a solution.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
It's nothing's wrong with it, and it frustrates me a
lot of the things that were available weren't used and utilized,
and you had a lot of air traffic controllers, as
you mentioned, forced to go do door dash or whatever
other job they had so they could get paid and
had some money coming in. And I like Donald Trump's
President Trump's thought about, hey, let's give every air traffic
(12:18):
controller who didn't call in sick during this at ten
thousand dollars bonus. There's always things that we can look
at doing and sadly and sanely, so every time we
go through one of these things, you do have a
situation where you've got an air traffic control network that's
already stressed. Because remember, if we're three thousand air traffic
controllers short as of this moment, you have people working
(12:39):
over time, You've got a lot of you know, exhausted
people out there that these men and women that are
just trying to keep things rolling. It's going to be
the same thing over the holidays of Thanksgiving and from
the fifteenth of December to the end of the year,
where you know it's going to be stressed. Now, it's
not unsafe, but because when we start getting a lot
of congestion, the airlines have a throttle back policy where
(13:00):
they will reduce the airflow into a certain region based
on the air traffic controllers that they have in place.
So there are always safety standards that we have there
from a minimum that prevent a lot of over taxing
where we're trying to put too many flights in a
specific area. And that's good to see, and that's why
you have the ground stops and the other things that
take place when we have an air traffic management situation
(13:23):
that occurs. So I don't want anybody to worry with
this shortage, but it does cause some headaches, and that's
one of the reasons I've been thrilled that President Trump
is saying, look, let's get this fixed.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
But when you recognize to.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Get hired, you're five years away from working on your own,
it's a process. So we've got to increase the facilities.
We've got a shortage of air traffic control trainers. We've
got to address that, maybe hiring people from other countries
to come in as well. So there's a lot of
things in place that we're looking at, and I just
hope it continues to remain a priority for President Trump
(13:54):
because if he can get this fixed, then for the
next fifteen years, things are going to be much better
in aviation the same way. If he can address the
outdated technology for the next twenty years, that's going to
benefit this country. So President Trump is doing some things
that other people have talked about no one has done
to any significance. And if he can pull it off,
(14:14):
the benefits of him will outlive us with regards to
what's taking place.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And I'm thrilled to see it, and I just hope
it continues.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I mean, how many generations of humanity have been born
since the end of floppy disc usage, Jay Ratliffe, And
there still using fly.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Ground based radar going back to World War Two.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
You know that's a lot of this stuff is based
on too. So it's just nuts when you look at it.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I'm going to end in a lighter note. Plus, hub
delay is coming up. Hey listen, if you want a windows,
if you want to look out a window by a
window seat more with Jay Ratliff after these brief words.
Fifty five the Toxic the talk station.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Hey, fifty I.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Fifty five kerc DE talk station. So nice. Seven Jay Ratliff,
I heart Media Aviation Expert back on the program. So
happy that he's over the bell's palsy issue. And I
guess timing couldn't have been better as we're getting ready
to segue into if you want to view again, get
a window seat. I looked up, Jay, there's a Babylon
B post. I sort of clicked on like and I
(15:12):
get there posts from time to time. It's a picture
of a guy. It's a picture of a guy in
an airline or an airplane holding his head headlined mail
passenger disappointed after another flight ends without a stewardess, frantically
asking if anyone can land the plane, just like it
happens in the movies all the time. Anyway, moving absolutely
got what. You're not entitled to a view if you're
(15:33):
on an airplane unless you're in a window seat, right, Jay.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Oh, this is just just maddening, but it is. There's
a class action lawsuit that's being brought on by passengers
against Delta and United because passengers are paying for window
seats and when they board the airplane and they're seated
in that seat, there's no window. It's a wall. And
the way this happens is when an aircraft is delivered
(15:59):
to an airline, it's cifically configured the way the airline wants.
We're gonna have x amount of seats up front and
premium or first class, and then we're gonna have this
many seats and coach, and normally the buffer between the
two you won't have a window. It'll just kind of
be the wall itself. When an airline will then change
the number of seats and coach or first class, the
(16:19):
rows get adjusted where everything moves back a bit or
forward a bit, and then inbearably what happens is you'll
have a seat that's moved a whole row where instead
of having a window, you're now seated next to that
wall where you don't have a window. So keep in
mind you're being paid extra. You're being charged extra to
sit in a premium seat, a window seat, and passengers saying, look,
(16:42):
i paid for a window seat and I'm getting there
and I'm next to a wall. I want a window.
And now there's this class action lawsuit and United has
made it clear just because you've paid for a window
seat doesn't entitle you to a view. And Brian, every
time I've talked about this, I have thought, I can't
wait to talk to Brian. I can't wait to talk
to Brian, because I want to ask you, with your
(17:04):
your extensive law training background, is that an insult or
is it a stupid thing to say? Or is that
legally you know something that you know, United can say
just because you paid for a window seat doesn't mean
you're entitled.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
To a view.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
They'd only be entitled to say that if there's a
disclaimer saying exactly what you just said. You know, because
you ordered a window seat doesn't necessarily entitle you a
window seat, and they can even give the explanation why.
But if they say windows seat without any qualification or caveats,
and they are false advertising if they put you in
a seat without a window.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
And that's that's the basis of the lawsuits. And I'm
really hoping that the two airlines get dinged on it
because to shrug it off and go, eh, you know,
it's not really that big of an issue, not that
big of a concern, not our problem. You know, you
paid to sit in that seat, and if you don't
happen to have a window seat, will so be it.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah, there's a lot of people that look they look.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Out the window to relax as they fly. There's people
that are a bit claustrophobic that need the windows so
they can relax when they fly a.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Lot of different reasons.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And when you take that away and just kind of
dismiss the concerns as Delta and United have done it
in this matter, it's insulting. And I look at that
arrogance thing. It just it bothers me because here again
is yet another example of how we're told passengers come first.
Uh uh, they never do. It's the bottom the bottom
line that comes first. It's not the employees. Sometimes it's
(18:26):
not as safe as I would like kind of thing.
It's but it happens to be an issue where they
are doing what they have to do to kind of
pad their bottom line. So you know, for me, it's
it's it was just an insane statement for United to
make great and I appreciate you letting me know because
I did not think that that would stand. But we'll say,
I guess what happens when they get to court.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yes, we will keep your bob going out on that one,
Jay Rattliff, And as we do, I think I got
a little insight into air traffic generally this week. As
you said, we've got things sort of resolved now, but
as for travel today, how are things looking for my listeners?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
You know, weather there's going to be concerned next week
because we might have a couple of storms coming in.
So make sure the airlines have a way to get
a hold of you, and please get to the airport
two hours before departure. But if you were flying today,
Dallas and Los Angeles are going to be the two
problem children of the day.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Chicago maybe late in.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
The day, but I really think the headaches are going
to be Dallas in Los Angeles as we're going to
be fighting a lot of rain, wind and some limited visibility.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So glad you're back, Jay right lift obviously had no
struggles whatsoever doing the report on aviation today and I'm
so pleased to have you back. And I'll look forward
to next Thursday as I always do. Eight thirty men
will hit the ground running next week. Hope you and
your better half have a fantastic weekend. Of course, in week.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Between now and then, as you are my friend, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Thanks brother eight fifty five ifty five Casiditi Talk station.
You didn't get a chance to listen
It's Take twenty nine fifty five KERCD talk station. Man
Thursdays have not been the same of late. You know
how much I love talking to iHeart media aviation expert
Jay Ratlift, and he is back after about of Bell's palsy.
Jay Ratlift's so happy to have you on. Did you
feel the power of prayer coursing through your body from
my listening audience, Jay Ratlift.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I did, indeed, sir, I did. Indeed.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
In fact, I got a lot of emails after about
the second or third week saying hey, I've missed you,
and I thought, wow, I took a while for him
to miss the fact I wasn't there. But no, I
got some very nice emails and a lot of people
were chiming in as far as their experiences with Bell's
paulsy and yeah, I was getting ready for church the
last Sunday of October, looked in the mirror and the
left side of my face was drooping and I thought, well.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
That's not right.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Stroke went straight to the e. Well, you know that
was my first thought. But there was any other stroke
related symptoms. And I know that because I have a daughter.
That's the heart and vascular ICU nurse. But you know,
I promised my girls anytime that something didn't look right,
off to the hospital I go. And I did, and
they quickly assessed me and said it was Belle's palsy
viral infection. It was mild, and they said, Jay, we
(01:06):
don't know if it's going to be days, weeks, or
months before we were able to get back, you know,
to where it's normal. And you know, fortunately it was
a mild case. The saddest part was my family didn't
seem to mind me talking less, and that was I
wasn't really ready for that ultra dose of compassion. But no,
it it went well. And Buddy, I missed my routine.
(01:30):
I yeah, still doing my trading stocks, is still training,
but you know, the routine of which day it is.
As far as my radio stuff as I have stuff
around the country, there were days I had to remind
myself what day of the week it was, and that
was so I'm glad to have.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The routine back, and so are my listening audience and
me very much. I just I find this the segment
so fascinating and often quite comical. We will get to
a comical one at the tail end of our discussion
this morning. Let us talk and you missed out quite
a bit of aviation news. There wasn't a day or
a week that went Biden say, man, I wish Jay
Ratliffe was in better tradition. Yeah, I guarantee you Joe
(02:10):
would have called you for a you know, an out
of the ordinary segments on some other day of the
week because of what was going on. So let's move
past the shutdown and let's talk about the Trump administration
has decided to withdraw the cash compensation rule that would
have required airlines to pay cash for delays. Did the
shutdown and all the complications in the literally thousands of
(02:30):
flights that were canceledor delayed have anything to do with
this decision? What's behind this Jay ratlift?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Well, well, it's the fact that the Trump administration is
a very cozy relationship with airlines. We've talked about this,
Oh yeah, this was this was a Biden something that
Joe Biden his administration put him about a year ago.
And this cash compensation rule, which is what we referred
to it as said, Look, if you're a passenger and
you're delayed more than three hours or more, you're going
(02:57):
to be entitled to cash compensation, guaranteed meals, lodging when necessary,
and ground transportation when it applies. And of course, when
Donald Trump was elected, which I was very glad to see,
airline stocks hole went up and people said, well, Jay,
why would that be the case, And I said, well,
to be candid, there's a very good relationship there was
(03:17):
in the first administration between Trump and the airlines and
the Biden administration. And you've heard me say this repeatedly.
Even though I did not care for it at all,
they did try to hold airlines accountable and they did
more in that regard than any other presidential administration that
I can remember, going back three decades. They absolutely hammered
airlines trying to hold them accountable. And then, of course
(03:39):
once the Trump administration takes over, and after yes, the
airlines donated a million dollars each to the Trump inaugural fund.
Boeing was in that line as well. It was like, okay,
it was just it was there. You knew what was
going to happen. And of course Boeing, remember they pleaded
guilty to a lot of criminal issues in connection with
the Boeing Max crashes that we had a number of
(04:01):
years ago. After Trump gets elected, they go back to
the Department Transportation asking if they could withdraw some of
that and kind of have it.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Revisited, and they did and.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
They nothing went to trial of find that was it.
So it really bothered me, and I wasn't surprised at
all because I knew that that was going to go
off the table, even though other countries around the world
have something similar to this in place. It's the airlines
to tell the government what they're going to do many places,
and refreshingly, that wasn't the case during the last four years,
(04:36):
and I was really glad to see it. But the
reality that the Donald Trump administration would continue that same
course was a real slight consideration, and I wasn't surprised.
I was ticked because I really wanted to see it
in place. It needed to be in place, but unfortunately
it's not.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, what would the financial landscape look like if the
rules in place and they were required to issue cash
compensation for the delays and the cancelations after what happened
during the shutdown, Well.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Let's see the cat you mean to the airlines, They
Delta and United would not be allowed to report or
wouldn't be able to report a billion dollars in profits
in a single quarter.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
That's probably the number one thing.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Because you know when you're actually being forced to compensate
passengers when you screw up. And I'm not talking about
weather delays and things like that, but when you intentionally
schedule more flights than you know you can pull off,
and you're counting on a percentage of those canceling, which happens.
That's why they overbook flights. There's going to be a
percentage of people. And there's airlines that have thirty five
(05:43):
gates available at a time, and they'll schedule forty airplanes
to arrive at the same time, counting on five of
them being laid. Yet will all forty get there at
the same time, Well, five have to be sitting out
on the tarmac and you and I've been through that.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Well, there's that's culpability there. At least you can point
to a decision they made which as exposed as them
because they chose to overbook, unlike say, an act of
God kind.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Of thing, which those things wouldn't be covered under this right.
It would be a late arriving crew repeating mechanical issues.
These types of things that you know squarely could fall
on the lap of the airlines. And now what they
do when we have those issues, Brian, they'll give us.
Here's five thousand frequent flyer.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Mons, right, big apology there.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, Well, and I suppose air traffic control is not
showing up because of government action or inaction as the case.
Maybe that also is. Isn't the airline's fault. They didn't
tell the f the employees who are mandatory or necessary
not to show up to work causing problems.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
So no ripple effects on them, right, A real quick
ps to that. You know airlines were mandated to reduce
their flight activity in those supporting airports.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yes, they were ordered to, and we'll talk about that next.
Because that order mandating reductions over effective this past Monday
at six am. Did it have any effect? Are we
okay to travel? Thanksgiving? That we will talk about coming
up next among other topics with Jay Ratliffe, the return
of Jay Ratliff. What a wonderful thing. Don't go away?
Fifty five KRC the talk station. Have you ever been
(07:11):
in the cockpit before? Jay Ratliffe has the return of
Jay Ratliffe after a brief health stint with Bell's policy.
Is so pleased to have them back on the program,
and there was much rejoicing. Okay, the FAA Entity Emergency
Order mandating reductions reductions brought about. I guess because while
this shutdown was going on, in spite of the fact
they were guaranteed to get their pay and they are
essential employees, air traffic controllers were choosing to take days off,
(07:33):
calling in sick. And I get that on some level,
maybe they had to go out and get another job,
but it happened, and so we had to reduce flights.
That's over effect of this past Monday at six am.
Are things looking good in terms of air traffic control?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Now?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Have they come back to work? Are we on schedule?
Jay Ratlift, Yeah, We're We're on schedule.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Now.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Keep in mind, before the shutdown, we still were battling
with a shortage of air traffic controllers. Oh ye're averaging
averaging per day about thirty nine hundred flight delays a day.
So when we get back to normal, we can measure
that by are we seeing less than four thousand delayed
flights today? If so, yeah, we're right in check. So
(08:12):
we have gotten back to that. In fact, airlines have
made it clear that look, they're gonna have all hands
on deck. Schedule is going to be at full capacity
for what, in his essence, the busiest travel week of
the year, which is the busy Thanksgiving travel period. You
have the busiest day of the week historically the Sunday
after Thanksgiving. The second busiest day of the year is
typically the Wednesday before. So airlines have made it clear
(08:35):
that they do not anticipate any issues for that, and
they did say at six am on Monday that those
restrictions that they had in place at those forty airports
to reduce the traffic by I think it was four
or five six percent something along those lines, they were
going to increase it to ten percent. We never had
to get to that. But the FAA also noted Brian
(08:57):
that not all airlines restrict did the number of their
flights at those airports as they were required to do. Now,
the FAA has said for any airline that did not
do what they were supposed to, they're going to seek
a fine of US seventy five thousand dollars for every
flight operated above that mandated limit. Now I can tell
(09:18):
you some airlines are going to be hit with a fine,
and I'm going to tell you most of those airlines
it's going to be negotiated down or go away. We're
back to that same arrogance of the airlines and the
airlines kind of telling the government what they're going to
do instead of the other way around. And it frustrates me.
But that's just the reality of the power of the
lobbying group that you really have with the airlines, and
(09:38):
it's going to continue to be the case. So I'm
excited that they are going to be held accountable with
a possible seventy five thousand dollars per flight fine, but
I know it's not going to stick.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Well, if you got that much power, any of the fools,
one that's not looking out for his or her own
best interests, you have to at least make the argument
that you should lower it. Now you're asking for seventy
five thousand, how about we write you check for ten
and hopefully you land someplace in the middle or closer
to the lower side if you're the airline. But of
course you're going to try to haggle. That doesn't mean
the government has to concede to your demands.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
But I just would like for all it maybe oh
fifty thousand in IRS taxes?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Can we negotiate that down to like thirty I don't
think so. There's some company it's not fair.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
There's some companies out there that advertise all the time
on various radio programs saying they can do exactly that.
You know, you're on the hook for the IRS for
fifty grand.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
That's in penalties and things like that. I know if
you haven't known what you're supposed to. But Brent, it
just bothers me because there's a safety related fine where
the fa you know, hit some airline with a four
million dollars you didn't do the maintenance you were supposed
to find it's negotiated down to like a third of
that as long as they promise never to do it again.
And it just it just I walk around and banging
(10:47):
my head off the wall, because it's just how are
we going to learn a lesson if it doesn't have
some teeth in it when you're actually talking about consequences
for actions that they knew not to do.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Well, And you know there's other thing is which is
avoiding the problem in the get go by continuing to
pay the air traffic controllers during a shutdown, and I
know there was a meeting yesterday with the Senate Aviation
Subcommittee hearing they were talking about just that now we
could pick areas of government that you've got to pay
these people period in the story. Look what happened last
time when these particular people weren't paid, They didn't show up,
didn't do the job, and we couldn't fly an airplane.
(11:20):
I know because I learned during this shutdown that banks
will provide government employees with interest free loans, knowing full
well that the government is going to pay them back
when they go back to work. The money is sound secure,
there's no issue with regard to losses. You enter into paperwork,
you pay them back when you get your paycheck, no problem.
I found out there's something called the Airport and Airway
(11:41):
Trust Fund. They have their own trust fund, and there
was some discussions about listen, let us tap into the
air to this trust fund, pay our employees, and then,
of course, like the banks get paid back when they
come back to work, we can refund the trust fund.
What is wrong with that as a solution.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
It's nothing's wrong with it, and it frustrates me a
lot of the things that were available weren't used and utilized,
and you had a lot of air traffic controllers, as
you mentioned, forced to go do door dash or whatever
other job they had so they could get paid and
had some money coming in. And I like Donald Trump's
President Trump's thought about, hey, let's give every air traffic
(12:18):
controller who didn't call in sick during this at ten
thousand dollars bonus. There's always things that we can look
at doing and sadly and sanely, so every time we
go through one of these things, you do have a
situation where you've got an air traffic control network that's
already stressed. Because remember, if we're three thousand air traffic
controllers short as of this moment, you have people working
(12:39):
over time, You've got a lot of you know, exhausted
people out there that these men and women that are
just trying to keep things rolling. It's going to be
the same thing over the holidays of Thanksgiving and from
the fifteenth of December to the end of the year,
where you know it's going to be stressed. Now, it's
not unsafe, but because when we start getting a lot
of congestion, the airlines have a throttle back policy where
(13:00):
they will reduce the airflow into a certain region based
on the air traffic controllers that they have in place.
So there are always safety standards that we have there
from a minimum that prevent a lot of over taxing
where we're trying to put too many flights in a
specific area. And that's good to see, and that's why
you have the ground stops and the other things that
take place when we have an air traffic management situation
(13:23):
that occurs. So I don't want anybody to worry with
this shortage, but it does cause some headaches, and that's
one of the reasons I've been thrilled that President Trump
is saying, look, let's get this fixed.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
But when you recognize to.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Get hired, you're five years away from working on your own,
it's a process. So we've got to increase the facilities.
We've got a shortage of air traffic control trainers. We've
got to address that, maybe hiring people from other countries
to come in as well. So there's a lot of
things in place that we're looking at, and I just
hope it continues to remain a priority for President Trump
(13:54):
because if he can get this fixed, then for the
next fifteen years, things are going to be much better
in aviation the same way. If he can address the
outdated technology for the next twenty years, that's going to
benefit this country. So President Trump is doing some things
that other people have talked about no one has done
to any significance. And if he can pull it off,
(14:14):
the benefits of him will outlive us with regards to
what's taking place.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And I'm thrilled to see it, and I just hope
it continues.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I mean, how many generations of humanity have been born
since the end of floppy disc usage, Jay Ratliffe, And
there still using fly.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Ground based radar going back to World War Two.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
You know that's a lot of this stuff is based
on too. So it's just nuts when you look at it.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I'm going to end in a lighter note. Plus, hub
delay is coming up. Hey listen, if you want a windows,
if you want to look out a window by a
window seat more with Jay Ratliff after these brief words.
Fifty five the Toxic the talk station.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Hey, fifty I.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Fifty five kerc DE talk station. So nice. Seven Jay Ratliff,
I heart Media Aviation Expert back on the program. So
happy that he's over the bell's palsy issue. And I
guess timing couldn't have been better as we're getting ready
to segue into if you want to view again, get
a window seat. I looked up, Jay, there's a Babylon
B post. I sort of clicked on like and I
(15:12):
get there posts from time to time. It's a picture
of a guy. It's a picture of a guy in
an airline or an airplane holding his head headlined mail
passenger disappointed after another flight ends without a stewardess, frantically
asking if anyone can land the plane, just like it
happens in the movies all the time. Anyway, moving absolutely
got what. You're not entitled to a view if you're
(15:33):
on an airplane unless you're in a window seat, right, Jay.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Oh, this is just just maddening, but it is. There's
a class action lawsuit that's being brought on by passengers
against Delta and United because passengers are paying for window
seats and when they board the airplane and they're seated
in that seat, there's no window. It's a wall. And
the way this happens is when an aircraft is delivered
(15:59):
to an airline, it's cifically configured the way the airline wants.
We're gonna have x amount of seats up front and
premium or first class, and then we're gonna have this
many seats and coach, and normally the buffer between the
two you won't have a window. It'll just kind of
be the wall itself. When an airline will then change
the number of seats and coach or first class, the
(16:19):
rows get adjusted where everything moves back a bit or
forward a bit, and then inbearably what happens is you'll
have a seat that's moved a whole row where instead
of having a window, you're now seated next to that
wall where you don't have a window. So keep in
mind you're being paid extra. You're being charged extra to
sit in a premium seat, a window seat, and passengers saying, look,
(16:42):
i paid for a window seat and I'm getting there
and I'm next to a wall. I want a window.
And now there's this class action lawsuit and United has
made it clear just because you've paid for a window
seat doesn't entitle you to a view. And Brian, every
time I've talked about this, I have thought, I can't
wait to talk to Brian. I can't wait to talk
to Brian, because I want to ask you, with your
(17:04):
your extensive law training background, is that an insult or
is it a stupid thing to say? Or is that
legally you know something that you know, United can say
just because you paid for a window seat doesn't mean
you're entitled.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
To a view.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
They'd only be entitled to say that if there's a
disclaimer saying exactly what you just said. You know, because
you ordered a window seat doesn't necessarily entitle you a
window seat, and they can even give the explanation why.
But if they say windows seat without any qualification or caveats,
and they are false advertising if they put you in
a seat without a window.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
And that's that's the basis of the lawsuits. And I'm
really hoping that the two airlines get dinged on it
because to shrug it off and go, eh, you know,
it's not really that big of an issue, not that
big of a concern, not our problem. You know, you
paid to sit in that seat, and if you don't
happen to have a window seat, will so be it.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah, there's a lot of people that look they look.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Out the window to relax as they fly. There's people
that are a bit claustrophobic that need the windows so
they can relax when they fly a.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Lot of different reasons.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And when you take that away and just kind of
dismiss the concerns as Delta and United have done it
in this matter, it's insulting. And I look at that
arrogance thing. It just it bothers me because here again
is yet another example of how we're told passengers come first.
Uh uh, they never do. It's the bottom the bottom
line that comes first. It's not the employees. Sometimes it's
(18:26):
not as safe as I would like kind of thing.
It's but it happens to be an issue where they
are doing what they have to do to kind of
pad their bottom line. So you know, for me, it's
it's it was just an insane statement for United to
make great and I appreciate you letting me know because
I did not think that that would stand. But we'll say,
I guess what happens when they get to court.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yes, we will keep your bob going out on that one,
Jay Rattliff, And as we do, I think I got
a little insight into air traffic generally this week. As
you said, we've got things sort of resolved now, but
as for travel today, how are things looking for my listeners?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
You know, weather there's going to be concerned next week
because we might have a couple of storms coming in.
So make sure the airlines have a way to get
a hold of you, and please get to the airport
two hours before departure. But if you were flying today,
Dallas and Los Angeles are going to be the two
problem children of the day.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Chicago maybe late in.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
The day, but I really think the headaches are going
to be Dallas in Los Angeles as we're going to
be fighting a lot of rain, wind and some limited visibility.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So glad you're back, Jay right lift obviously had no
struggles whatsoever doing the report on aviation today and I'm
so pleased to have you back. And I'll look forward
to next Thursday as I always do. Eight thirty men
will hit the ground running next week. Hope you and
your better half have a fantastic weekend. Of course, in week.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Between now and then, as you are my friend, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Thanks brother eight fifty five ifty five Casiditi Talk station.
You didn't get a chance to listen
Brian Thomas News
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