I wanted to drop some air traffic controller figures on you. In March of this year, Acting FAA Admin Chris Rocheleau testified before Congress that there were currently about 11,000 controllers. simpleflying.com/faa-administ...

The amount of damage & pain inflicted on southwestern Alaska last month by the former typhoon is immense & enduring, but AK Sen Dan Sullivan is in line for $1 million for his “suffering” from a standard phone records search. Can’t imagine why someone up for re-election would seek out this cash.

Meanwhile, in Alaska the race for governor is nuts.

I wanted to drop some air traffic controller figures on you. In March of this year, Acting FAA Admin Chris Rocheleau testified before Congress that there were currently about 11,000 controllers. simpleflying.com/faa-administ...

This should not be an issue. Everyone who worked should get paid immediately. The government has no excuse for dragging its feet on this.

Scoop: Military officials on Weds presented Trump with updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including land strikes, per sources. Hegseth, Caine at White House yday afternoon for briefings. No final decision made, two of the sources told @cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-v...

Good grief. There were 23 stopgap funding bills for the FAA starting in 2008. Funding cuts have hit the agency for decades, including pauses on hiring of….wait for it….air traffic controllers. This committee will do nothing more than performative politicking about flight safety.

So many questions

This is an interesting choice.

You can't just flip a switch on unpaid and exhausted air traffic controllers. Things are still going to be messed up. After the paychecks come in and folks get some sleep, they are still understaffed, and dealing with mandatory overtime and outdated equipment. There are no quick fixes.

Conservation groups and three Alaska Native tribes filed lawsuits against the Trump administration to block a deal for a gravel road through a wildlife refuge on the Alaska Peninsula.

One day of the sort of cramps that women deal with for decades and he would change his tune.

"When Siskel and Ebert used their platform to champion a picture that lacked the marketing budget of major studio releases, they single-handedly motivated potential audience members from around the country to see it,” reflects Matt Fagerholm on the 50th Anniversary of SISKEL AND EBERT.

In 2018, then-Congressman Duffy voted for ADS-B waivers for the military in civilian airspace. NextGen, the ATC upgrade, was part of the FAA plan under Buttigieg (& dated to 2003). DCA is a federal airport. Congress wanted it busy, DOD wanted helo routes. Duffy has lost the plot on what matters.

All 20 personnel on board a military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia were killed, Turkey's defense minister says. The plane had taken off from Azerbaijan and was on its way back to Turkey on Tuesday when it crashed close to the Azerbaijani border.

For the airplane + red aurora + big dipper fans. 😍

Holy coronal mass ejection! I think these are the most amazing auroras I’ve seen in 45 years in Alaska! Taken from Diamond Ridge, Homer, Alaska, looking all directions. #auroras #NorthernLights

The Federal Aviation Administration is completely in thrall to DOT. The FAA Admin is nothing more than Sean Duffy’s assistant at this point. He must be back in the office waiting for the boss to let him speak.

My head just exploded.

In 2018, then-Congressman Duffy voted for ADS-B waivers for the military in civilian airspace. NextGen, the ATC upgrade, was part of the FAA plan under Buttigieg (& dated to 2003). DCA is a federal airport. Congress wanted it busy, DOD wanted helo routes. Duffy has lost the plot on what matters.

"If they're going to go without paychecks, the least we can do is make sure they don't go without food." -Greg, Team Member at Taco Bamba Our partners at Taco Bamba are preparing delicious taco boxes for federal workers & families impacted by the government shutdown. #ChefsForFeds

I can not stress enough how wrong it is to politicize flight safety. Last summer at OshKosh FAA Admin Bedford said no one in the Biden admin cared about aviation; now we have this from Duffy. This attitude turns safety into a concept to be owned for political gain. It’s dangerous & pathetic.

They were already working mandatory overtime & using outdated equipment in one of the most stressful jobs in the country. This sort of response is amateurish and unacceptable. I am so sick of this sort of language from DOT.

Good Lord. Absolute textbook politicization of flight safety. It doesn’t get more blatant, or appalling, then this. Also, does the FAA still have an administrator or has Bryan Bedford just given his job to Duffy?

Sure, Sean.

Shocking.

In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last. The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes. Why? It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.

Aviation is a really complex industry that does a lot of things and aircraft operate under a myriad of rules that are not always obvious. Saying you want to shut down airports that serve private jets means practically any airport in America. It’s all very intermingled & can’t be simplified.

Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- [email protected] or dm me. RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!

I wrote this. If you want a fuller look at backstory on ATC and federal politics, please give it a read.

Using aviation safety for political gain is nothing new but man, this takes the cake.

Do I say all the ways in which this is wrong or just roll my eyes and move on? Also, really Politico? WTF? www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

If you need me I will be listening to The Killers “Lawyers, Guns & Money” cover on loop youtu.be/tWrdK1MZEW0?...

I think in our analysis you trust us to take a position but at least analyze the alternative. In this case there is no alternative. There is no political advantage to this deal. None.

You can have enormous frustration over the fact that air traffic controllers have to work with no pay, and already were understaffed, while at the same time being furious about Dens caving on healthcare costs. (I am.) & if you think reopening the govt fixes ATC, you haven’t been paying attention.

Meanwhile, FAA and NTSB employees - including all air traffic controllers & the investigators down in KY working to understand what happened to the UPS MD-11, are not getting paid. What is wrong with these people? Why are they pretending that everything is okay?

Opening the government with no concessions from GOP merely to alleviate airline cancellations - when Congress has been dragging its feet for years on chronic FAA staffing issues - is a lame ass choice. Also, doing it while the House refuses to work is appalling.

Delta approaching 500 mainline cancels today, 14% of its operations. Nearly a third of Southwest ops delayed (likely means cxls later in the day). "Just like a winter storm" is a cute description of the FAA cuts, but it is on top of an actual winter storm, and will last for many days.

Remind me again why a book about the historic politicization of the FAA is not going to be of interest to the American public. (If I end up having to self publish this thing, which I am working on now, I hope you will but it.)

There is a cascade of stresses being put on the national airspace system. Anyone who know anything about aviation knows what a cascade can do.

None of this is a surprise. Congress, including when Duffy was a congressman, is aware of staffing issues at the FAA (which extend far beyond ATC). This sort of thing is amply documented. Fund the agency so it can staff for every position, and STOP ACTING SURPRISED.

If you think this makes life easier for controllers, you are wrong. The line of air carriers is one thing, plus whatever the heck could pop up out in this mess without proper separation is another. (Remember the Black Hawk?) We need the govt open. The House needs to return to work. Now.

This is a really interesting comparison. I highly recommend “The Cult of We” by Eliot Brown & Maureen Farrell. It’s a very compelling investigation of how We Work fooled so many investors & surfed a wave of dollars on a concept with no actual value or substance.

This is going to snarl air traffic today! LaGuardia (LGA) facing air traffic controller staffing issues. Flights out of Nashville to LGA being held on ground, likely elsewhere in country, as well.

Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...

It must be exhausting to be an air traffic controller. You have a very stressful job. You’re understaffed & have to work overtime. The govt shuts down & you don’t get paid. And then when Congress (ahem, GOP members) refuse to do their jobs, you will have to save the damn country. Again.

You would not believe the number of questions I have about this.

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Few people are better positioned than Don Brown to point you toward realistic info on what's happening with ATC right now. Follow @gettheflick.bsky.social for informed, no-BS guidance.