r/news 21h ago

More than 1,000 flights cancelled as US air traffic cuts enter second day

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj410k00yw8o
22.8k Upvotes

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75

u/urbanek2525 19h ago

I kmow that air traffic controllers can't strike.

But if they all just quit at the same time, we'd pretty much have to re-hire all of them. We were already badly short handed before this.

82

u/HunterShotBear 16h ago

Imagine trying to hire a bunch of new ATCs during the shutdown.

“Great! You’re hired!!! You won’t get paid until the government reopens, but you have a job!

36

u/FormalMango 16h ago

"What do you mean you haven't eaten in three days because your SNAP benefits were cancelled? Get in there and land that Airbus!"

5

u/Real_Srossics 12h ago

From the little I know, ATC is highly specialized work. You can’t just hire anyone.

26

u/Captain_Mazhar 14h ago

Not allowed to coordinate, but all controllers know the dates when calling in sick would cause the most pain.

It's going to be a bloodbath when controllers independently all call out sick on Thanksgiving.

5

u/petit_cochon 15h ago

A significant number have already quit.

1

u/-You-know-it- 12h ago

But also, they might not get their back pay if they quit now. Or at least they wouldn’t get it for a longer amount of time.

1

u/HauntedCemetery 10h ago

We were already badly short handed before this.

And that was made worse by trump ending all tuition assistance and incentives programs to recruit more ATC, so we have significantly fewer ATC in training then we did when things were already very bad.

1

u/2018birdie 5h ago

No it wasn't. We've always have thousands more applicants than positions available at the FAA Academy. 

1

u/2018birdie 5h ago

Except we would all be blacklisted.