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this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2025
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The training and requirements to be an ATC are insane, in a extremely thorough way. I highly doubt the Republican administration would be able to find competent replacements among their 'patriots'.
That said, I doubt further that they would actually care and not just tell people to eat cake, or just privatize the ATC network to some billionaire.
They can pull up some people from the military who run ATC on bases. Those bases don't have anywhere near the traffic levels that large commercial hubs do, but they might be able to move people around and fill in capacity at smaller airports.
That said, the shutdown is only accelerating issues that have been there since Reagan fired the striking ATC workers. Trump can bloviate about "TRUE PATRIOTS" all he wants. Patriotism can't direct a plane to the right runway. There's a certain level of reality that gets in the way. Ending the shutdown won't change the long term trends. Doing the same plan a second time would only end in disaster. It barely worked the first time; it's what put us on this long term downwards cycle on the whole ATC system.
Combat controllers. They served after the Haitian earthquake, directing some 200 flights per day into Port-au-Prince. But they are specialized to work in austere environments. https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/117884/combat-controllers-crucial-to-haiti-earthquake-relief/
200 flights per day are what Chicago Midway does. Chicago O'Hare does 10 times that much.
Combat controllers can only go so far.
I agree. ATCs should be better paid and have job benefits that entice people to get involved in the industry. It’s such an important position but it’s not compensated as such.
If they privatize it then it's even easier to strike as they will no longer be held to government standards.
Competent is the word here ... I have the feeling his current administration replaced 70% of competent people with folks totally unfit for the job.
Examples are FBI's Patel, or "Mr Health" Kennedy, and the expired Newshost leading the War department...
So I can easily see the experienced air controllers be replaced by some interns sifted out from some other departments, slap a week of training on them and airports are good to go.
Don't forget the guy known for being on The Real World, LOL - Sean Duffy.
These people aren't getting paid, he wants them to do slave labor. It costs money to go to work and it's a stressful job anyway.
He has people who change his diapers.
NO KINGS
Hear me out? Wouldn't it be so much more effective to get rid of all those DEI hires and replace every ATC tower with a broccoli headed kid who will refer to every plane as a "buttfor"?
What's a bu. . . wait a minute!
I'm picturing some of Musk's dumbfuck arrogant barely-adolescent proteges like "big balls" thinking because they learned how to write a for loop and played their share of games that they can just be "10x" (fucking lol) ATCs or something....
FFS.
Knowing Trump, he thinks the job is just standing there waving your arms at random
That's exactly what he does as president
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzWXdVsHMCM
I thought this was going to be a video of his "dancing" where he's jerking off two guys.
That would've been a good one. He makes so many stupid arm motions I wanted to show as many as I could find.
Didn’t Musk try to steal the FAA code for one of his toilet companies to “rewrite”? I thought that was a headline from the past year.
Can easily believe that, though can not confirm.
So much has happened, and this regime is not even a year old. . .
"May you live interesting times" is a curse we are all suffering through.
When has competency ever mattered with trump
120%
Though I think he would care about competency in the field of 'kissing his ass' among sycophants and those that use him.