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Tags: Air Traffic Control / Australia Travel / Sydney Airport / Sydney Travel / → All Tags
There'll Be Delays At Sydney Airport If They Don't Find Some Air Traffic People
Want to fly in or out of Australia's biggest city, Sydney? It could be tricky, because apparently there aren't quite enough people there to guide your plane in to a safe landing.
On Sunday night, a number of flights out of Sydney were canceled and many incoming planes had to fly around for ages before being cleared for landing, because of a shortage of air traffic controllers. Three of the controllers who should have been working called in saying they couldn't come to work (we don't if they were sick, or just had a really good party to go to) and Air Services Australia, who run the tower at Sydney Airport, couldn't find any replacements.
Tags: iPhone Travel Apps / iPhone / iPhone 3GS / Air Traffic Control / JFK / AMS / Airports / Airport News / → All Tags
Listen In On Air Traffic Control From Your iPhone
Noting that Labor Day weekend means one of the busiest travel times of the year, we're tuning in to something other than our iTunes on our iPhone. It's a newish app, released this summer, and it comes from the great people behind LiveATC.net, which lets you tune in to streaming air traffic control at select airports around the world.
At $2.99, it's the most expensive app we've bought, but there's just something exciting about listening in on JFK's Tower as flights depart and arrive for everywhere from Nice, France to Rochester. A few mornings ago, we even caught the air traffic controllers wrestling with some Coast Guard traffic and the occasional helicopter.
Tags: Air Traffic Control / New Zealand Travel / Air New Zealand / → All Tags
You Can't Land Now, We're Eating
Thought about taking a trip around New Zealand soon? Feel free, but don't expect to be able to catch a plane around lunchtime. The air traffic controllers will be easy eating their sandwiches.
After years of working flexible hours to accommodate aircraft movement, the control tower staff will now be taking fixed breaks at particular times, and towers at five regional airports--Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Invercargill--will be closed for half an hour twice a day. Air New Zealand is furious because it means the cancellation of 25 of its flights; regional airlines Air Nelson and Eagle Air might end up having to cut staff.
We definitely don't doubt the importance of satisfied air traffic control staff in keeping our flying experiences safe, but we're not convinced fixed lunch breaks will keep us out of danger. We'd suggest the infamous Kiwi company Hell Pizza just delivers up to the towers. See, Jaunted solves problems.
Related Stories:
· Air NZ Forced To Cancel Flights Due To Lunch Breaks [The Age]
· No Boundary This Kiwi Pizza Chain Won't Cross [Jaunted]
· New Zealand Travel Guide [Jaunted]
[Photo: superciliousness]
Tags: Live From New York / Funny Travel / Neil Patrick Harris / Kristen Wiig / Air Traffic Control / Flight Caps / DOT / → All Tags
Why We Were Disappointed By The SNL Air Traffic Control Skit
We were tickled to see a typically unlit corner of American travel shown on "Saturday Night Live" this past week in "Fran & Freba," in which two proper ladies (Kristen Wiig and guest host Neil Patrick Harris) chew over their personal problems while... directing air traffic. Neither a lecherous boss nor their giant fake fingernails could stop them from the task at hand! We could even use the phrase former Virgin America CEO Fred Reid used to describe the air traffic control system itself to describe them: "So retro [they're] cool."
But while we love Wiig with the fire of a thousand suns, and NPH brought the LOL this week, we wish the spot had tried to say something substantive about the problem the DOT is facing where over-congested airports are concerned. Last we heard, the DOT was asking airlines to voluntarily cut service to New York's LaGuardia Airport, one of the most plagued by delays. Not surprisingly, no airline has publicly stepped up yet. (A DOT spokesman claimed "strong support from at least one carrier" in December. Riiiiight.) And let's face it, these lovelies could barely deal with three flights on radar, let alone a traffic jam.
Maybe Lorne Michaels was afraid saying anything remotely critical would snag him a spot on the no-fly list or at least the dreaded SSSS secondary screening code. Lorne, may we suggest Amtrak?
Related Stories:
· Nov. 2007: Airport Hell: Is It Really That Bad? [Jaunted]
· The Best Travel Media Story of 2007 Is Airport Congestion [Jaunted]
· June 2008: Senator Sez NYC's Airports Still A Mess [Jaunted]
· Dec. 2008: DOT Lowers LGA Flight Caps [Aviation Week]
· Jaunted Interview: Chatting with Fred Reid [Jaunted]
· Funny Travel: Suspicious Samberg [Jaunted]
Tags: Air Traffic Control / Bobby Sturgell / FAA / Videos / → All Tags
Not Breaking: FAA Takes Recruiting to YouTube
While everyone's suddenly talking about the fact that the FAA is recruiting high schoolers to work as air traffic controllers, the truth is that the agency's been at it for some time. Just check The YouTube, where this low-budget ad has been knocking around for more than a year.
CNN just caught wind of it and invited Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell to comment:
We're targeting a new generation, and we're trying to connect with them where they are ... 18-year-olds today can go off to war and serve this country, so we will train the folks we hire, and we will make sure they're fully certified.
If these are the best ads the FAA can put together, it's no wonder they have to offer six-figure signing bonuses to recruit youngins.
Related Stories:
· Teen Air Traffic Controllers? [CNN, via]
· Senator Sez: NYC's Airports Still a Mess [Jaunted]
· Secretary Mary Peters Wants to Touch That Paper [Jaunted]
