[Townhall] This latest brewing crisis came into focus after JetBlue announced this week that it would be canceling "scores" of its regularly scheduled flights to and from airports in the New York City area and Washington, D.C. this spring and summer in response to the FAA's air traffic controller staffing shortfall-triggered plan that includes "reducing flight requirements by up to 10% for airlines’ takeoff and landing rights to avoid congestion" from May 15 through September 15 of this year.Can't hire enough air traffic controllers because the economy is booming and everyone is working, and overtime is ,,, uhhh, not in the budget, or something.
The reduction in flights means fewer options for travelers, higher demand for available seats, and likely higher prices for Americans who've already seen fares increase 26.5 percent over the last 12 months.
JetBlue's CEO explained that he doesn't "want to pull down flights" and emphasized that "no airline wants to pull down flights," but said if such cuts aren't made, "the system is not going to be workable this summer." Whose system is that? The FAA's, an agency that is still without a Senate-confirmed administrator.
Dad-gum Republicans block the President's every move!
Here's the thing: air travel demand always spikes in the summer. The number of Americans traveling by plane has steadily increased as COVID-19 and its accompanying mandates and restrictions were rolled back. And last summer saw delays and disruptions as a result of already-existing ATC staffing issues.
Well, how was Mayor Pete supposed to know the problem would get worse if unattended?
There's no reason why the FAA, Buttigieg, or Biden wouldn't have known there'd be issues in the upcoming summer travel season unless staffing shortfalls were addressed. Yet, they apparently did not do anything to avert the problem, at least nothing that made a difference, and now flight schedules in America's largest city and the nation's capital are being slashed. At least a lot of the elite will be out of DC, off on summer vacation