Maybe solving the air traffic control and pilot issue isn’t as easy as I thought it was because, after all, we are dealing with the United States government. And the government is the most complex entity that there is.
So I have to abandon my father’s advice. He used to say that when trying to solve a problem to work backward. He used to say that things were like a domino effect and that it may take some time, and you have to dig. But there’s always a tipping point somewhere, and you just have to find it and stop the machinations from following.
The problem is that pilots and air traffic controllers are overworked and fatigued. Some air traffic controllers are working six-day weeks or 10 hours a day. It has led to a record number of near-misses on runways and in the air. Only by sheer luck and the grace of God have we avoided a catastrophe.
Solve the fatigue issue and solve the problem, right?
Not so fast.
The most logical step would be to hire more pilots and air traffic controllers, especially air traffic controllers. But agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration are dependent upon the allocation that they receive from the government. There’s only so much they can do with what they have.
The unfortunate problem, as I see it, is that it is probably going to take a catastrophe to wake some people up. It’s going to take a midair collision between two commercial airliners to take action. That’s because we tend to be a reactive government and not a proactive government.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it shouldn’t take a disaster for some people to sit up and take notice of the problem. The problem is already here.
Instead of worrying about how much aid we give to a foreign country, or how much investing we do in other issues, perhaps we should realize that the aviation domino effect has begun. The issue is here, and now we need to solve the problem by working backward and taking apart everything we know.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
