5 ms·

> more funding/staffing for ATC More funding? From an administration that is currently doing its best to get rid of as many federal employees as possible and h

by rob74 2y ago

> more funding/staffing for ATC More funding? From an administration that is currently doing its best to get rid of as many federal employees as possible and has an extra "department" (led by you-know-who) dedicated to that? What they will probably do with ATC is privatize it (which is actually a reasonable thing to do - it's private in most of Europe, but if the intention behind it is to save money, it will probably not improve the system).

jonstewart 2y ago
I would not be surprised if ATC _at DCA_ gets some more funding given the complicated air traffic environment and its unique position as Congress’s second-favorite airport.
- atlasunshrugged 2y ago
  What is Congress' favorite airport?
  - ghaff 2y ago
    Presumably Dulles because international and probably long-haul generally flights. (Though I imagine more fly in and out of Reagan/National on a regular basis.)
    - chgs 2y ago
      When I fly to Washington from Europe I try to go to Baltimore - the number of hours I’ve lost at Dulles immigration arrival is painful, Baltimore is 5-10 minutes.
    - atlasunshrugged 2y ago
      Huh, yeah I think that's maybe the Virginia delegation's favorite airport but I'm highly skeptical it is for other members as it's pretty far and while it does have more flights, I don't think it's incredible. For international flights when traveling for work, many Congresspeople will use milair anyways. For reference, I worked as a staffer in Congress for a couple of years and just picked this up although I've never done any in-depth research
      - alistairSH 2y ago
        Congressmen from areas that can serve DCA tend to pick DCA due to proximity/convenience. Noted elsewhere, it's a bit easier to navigate internally (smaller, newer terminal building vs IAD), though I don't know how much that impacts Congressmen - I'm guessing they at minimum are using first class/preferred facilities and not queuing up with us plebes for security. Periodically, Congress pushes to have DCA take more traffic total and from a larger portion of the US. Currently, DCA is limited to destinations 1250 miles away, though powerful Congressmen have obtained permanent waivers for this over the years for specific flights so they get an easy flight to their own home region.
        jonstewart 2y ago
        What is the rationale for the mile limit (other than protectionism for Dulles, which is what I suspect the answer is)? DCA’s short runways and tight space mean larger aircraft can’t use so that’s already a natural limiter. My bias is that I think Dulles needs to become a better airport rather than limiting competition with DCA.
        alistairSH 2y ago
        The rule was put in place by Congress in 1966, when IAD opened. Notionally to manage congestion at DCA, but yes also to get residents to use IAD, which was intended to be DC’s major airport.
  - jonstewart 2y ago
    Their respective home airports, of course. ;-)
    - atlasunshrugged 2y ago
      Ha, should have guessed that!
gosub100 2y ago
There's a privately controlled tower at KSQL (San Carlos) and there have been numerous incidents of ATC losing their cool on pilots, sometimes brand new students. All the YT comments say it's because it's privately controlled and understaffed and many pilots vouch for similar drama happening to them. I can't prove it, just passing along a data point. Obviously this problem could be solved by paying better and having enough staff. But how likely is that?
- dghlsakjg 2y ago
  KSQL's current controllers have announced that they are all quitting effective tomorrow. The private corp running the tower lowered their pay by eliminating COL adjustments in the latest contract renewal (a big deal for an airport that is in Palo Alto). This weekend, with no planning, there will be a completely untowered airport operating underneath the airspace of SFO. The management is scrambling right now to prevent this, but the best case scenario is that controllers with no experience or local knowledge in training will be thrown into a tower on the busiest day of the week with no colleagues that have done the job before.
  - gosub100 2y ago
    good for them (I'm not advocating for a more dangerous, uncontrolled airport, I think pilots should not fly there). Any private ATC should be required to put 50-100M in escrow (at a minimum) and/or insurance to cover mass casualty events caused by their failure.

by rob74 2y ago

jonstewart 2y ago

I would not be surprised if ATC _at DCA_ gets some more funding given the complicated air traffic environment and its unique position as Congress’s second-favorite airport.

atlasunshrugged 2y ago
What is Congress' favorite airport?
- ghaff 2y ago
  Presumably Dulles because international and probably long-haul generally flights. (Though I imagine more fly in and out of Reagan/National on a regular basis.)
  - chgs 2y ago
    When I fly to Washington from Europe I try to go to Baltimore - the number of hours I’ve lost at Dulles immigration arrival is painful, Baltimore is 5-10 minutes.
  - atlasunshrugged 2y ago
    Huh, yeah I think that's maybe the Virginia delegation's favorite airport but I'm highly skeptical it is for other members as it's pretty far and while it does have more flights, I don't think it's incredible. For international flights when traveling for work, many Congresspeople will use milair anyways. For reference, I worked as a staffer in Congress for a couple of years and just picked this up although I've never done any in-depth research
    - alistairSH 2y ago
      Congressmen from areas that can serve DCA tend to pick DCA due to proximity/convenience. Noted elsewhere, it's a bit easier to navigate internally (smaller, newer terminal building vs IAD), though I don't know how much that impacts Congressmen - I'm guessing they at minimum are using first class/preferred facilities and not queuing up with us plebes for security. Periodically, Congress pushes to have DCA take more traffic total and from a larger portion of the US. Currently, DCA is limited to destinations 1250 miles away, though powerful Congressmen have obtained permanent waivers for this over the years for specific flights so they get an easy flight to their own home region.
      - jonstewart 2y ago
        What is the rationale for the mile limit (other than protectionism for Dulles, which is what I suspect the answer is)? DCA’s short runways and tight space mean larger aircraft can’t use so that’s already a natural limiter. My bias is that I think Dulles needs to become a better airport rather than limiting competition with DCA.
        alistairSH 2y ago
        The rule was put in place by Congress in 1966, when IAD opened. Notionally to manage congestion at DCA, but yes also to get residents to use IAD, which was intended to be DC’s major airport.
- jonstewart 2y ago
  Their respective home airports, of course. ;-)
  - atlasunshrugged 2y ago
    Ha, should have guessed that!

gosub100 2y ago

There's a privately controlled tower at KSQL (San Carlos) and there have been numerous incidents of ATC losing their cool on pilots, sometimes brand new students. All the YT comments say it's because it's privately controlled and understaffed and many pilots vouch for similar drama happening to them. I can't prove it, just passing along a data point. Obviously this problem could be solved by paying better and having enough staff. But how likely is that?

dghlsakjg 2y ago
KSQL's current controllers have announced that they are all quitting effective tomorrow. The private corp running the tower lowered their pay by eliminating COL adjustments in the latest contract renewal (a big deal for an airport that is in Palo Alto). This weekend, with no planning, there will be a completely untowered airport operating underneath the airspace of SFO. The management is scrambling right now to prevent this, but the best case scenario is that controllers with no experience or local knowledge in training will be thrown into a tower on the busiest day of the week with no colleagues that have done the job before.
- gosub100 2y ago
  good for them (I'm not advocating for a more dangerous, uncontrolled airport, I think pilots should not fly there). Any private ATC should be required to put 50-100M in escrow (at a minimum) and/or insurance to cover mass casualty events caused by their failure.