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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]

Tags: Airport Hell / New York Area Airports / EWR / JFK / LGA / Mary Peters / Bobby Sturgell / Chuck Schumer / → All Tags

Senator Sez: NYC's Airports Still a Mess

The Feds are still trying to sort out the mess plaguing New York area airports even though this summer (so far) has nothing on last year's nightmarish streak of delays and cancellations. At issue now are the slot auctions proposed by the Bush administration in May and whether they'll be able to save American aviation from itself.

Surprisingly, the airlines and New York's Port Authority--which controls the airports--are lining up behind Democrats, who say President Bush's market-based scheme won't work. Says Sen. Chuck Schumer:

Instead of focusing on real, tested solutions to solve this problem, like upgrading decades-old technology and hiring an adequate number of controllers to staff New York's towers, the [Department of Transportation] continues to miss the point.

Republicans--and the DOT--insist that auctioning off some takeoff and landing slots is the best way to spur competition while maintaining flight caps. Of course, no one's ever tried that before, so they have no idea if it's actually going to work.

By the time all the debate is over, though, the congestion problem may be a non-issue. With fuel prices going up and carriers lurching closer to bankruptcy, there may soon be plenty of room for the few airlines still in business!

Related Stories:
· Debate Over Auctioning of Airport Landing Slots [NYT]
· Airlines Moving to the Grown-up Table [Politico]
· New York Area Airports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: triplexpresso]

Tags: ORD / Bobby Sturgell / Airports / Airline Analysis / Virgin America / → All Tags

O'Hare Having a Party, No One Coming

While the government is maintaining caps on takeoffs and landings at New York area airports--and some aviation insiders pray for re-regulation--officials at Chicago O'Hare are rolling out the welcome mat. The head of the FAA, Bobby Sturgell, says there will be no more flight caps at ORD, citing a new runway that's scheduled to open this fall.

But airlines aren't exactly clamoring to fill the extra capacity, says the Chicago Tribune:

The flight caps are no longer necessary, or even relevant, because the airline business is in the midst of an unprecedented downturn spurred by record fuel prices and a weak economy.

Both American and United, big-time carriers at O'Hare, have recently announced major cuts in service. JetBlue has all but halted growth--save for some new flights in the Caribbean.

This should help Virgin America with its planned expansion at the airport, right? Possibly, says spokeswoman Abby Lunardini:

[It's] encouraging, but we don't have official word back on our FAA filing yet.

UPDATE: Now Virgin America says it will cut capacity by 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, due to higher fuel costs.

Related Stories:
· Flight Caps to Vanish at O'Hare [CT]
· O'Hare coverage [Jaunted]
· New Airline Routes coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of the ORD disco lights: diongillard]