We’ve seen a series of aviation near misses in recent weeks, which is no doubt alarming. Tucker Carlson tried to tackle this issue last night on his Fox News show, and his complete disregard for reality and facts is just disheartening (though not shocking).
Of course I’m not a regular viewer of his program, but I know a lot of people take what he says as gospel, so it’s worth sharing what’s really going on.
In this post:
Tucker Carlson blames Biden & minorities for aviation incidents
Tucker Carlson went on a nearly four minute rant last night. Let me summarize what he said, so you don’t actually have to watch it:
- Aviation used to be safe until Biden became president, because “Biden imposed the principles of equity on the airlines, and that meant dramatically lowering hiring standards for pilots and for air traffic controllers”
- Last week there was a go-around at Houston’s Airport that “terrified” passengers, yet the media isn’t talking about it (lol)
- Carlson wants to know what’s going on, so he reached out to an unnamed United Airlines pilot, who claims that “under its woke CEO Scott Kirby, the airline has allowed politics and racialist ideologies to trump safety concerns,” putting the lives of passengers in grave danger
- Carlson then quotes the same unnamed pilot who says he heard from another unnamed pilot that “the captain of the Maui flight was brand new,” and “there was a new-hire first officer,” and talks about how in the training simulators, a new pilot tried to make 25 landings, and “15 ended up in the dirt”
- Southwest has also dramatically lowered its hiring standards, and people in Southwest’s academy largely end up flying for charter airline Swift Air, to “fly illegal aliens around the country without the American population knowing about it”
- Carlson concludes that “this is what it looks like in real terms when you decide that identity is more important than aptitude in something critical like aviation”
This is such a spectacularly bad take
Watching clips like this really gives you some insights into why some people think the way that they do. This is one of the most baseless aviation news stories I’ve ever seen.
There’s one thing Carlson is right about here, which is that we have seen an increase in aviation safety related incidents lately, and that’s concerning. What he’s completely wrong about is the cause. At the start of the pandemic (when Biden wasn’t president), the aviation industry came to a standstill.
Airlines received tens of billions of dollars in government support, with one condition being that they couldn’t fire any employees. What they could do, however, is offer employees voluntary early retirement packages. Many people in the airline industry (including senior pilots) accepted these offers to retire early.
All of this was fine until we saw a sudden increase in the demand for air travel. Airlines quickly took their planes out of storage, and of course you need pilots to fly those planes. At that point many senior pilots had retired, causing a massive pilot shortage. We’ve seen airline pilots hired at an unprecedented rate in the past couple of years.
Not only that, but because of how pilot seniority lists work, we’ve also seen more pilots than ever before trained on new jets. That’s because pilots can bid on what plane they fly based on their seniority (and the plane they fly determines their pay). With seniority lists having moved so much in the past couple of years, a lot of pilots have only been on their current aircraft types for a small period of time.
So yes, at this point the cockpits at US airlines are on average much less experienced than before. That’s not only the case in terms of total flight hours, but also in terms of flight hours on a particular aircraft. However, this has absolutely nothing to do with Biden, and has absolutely nothing to do with “woke” hiring practices.
Now, to address Carlson’s bizarre claims:
- Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the name of equity; this is fake news, and the same 1,500-hour minimum still applies, as before, though some airlines have lowered the hours they require above and beyond that, due to the general pilot shortage (that comes down to supply and demand)
- United has indeed opened a new flight academy for pilots, with a diversity quota; however, not a single pilot from that academy is flying at United Airlines yet, so you can’t blame any safety issues on that
- I love that the source for a national news story is an anonymous pilot who says he heard something from another pilot; the information isn’t even correct
Bottom line
Tucker Carlson is trying to insinuate that we’re seeing a series of aviation incidents because of President Biden’s “woke” policies. Regardless of where you stand politically, this is patently false.
Yes, there’s reason to be concerned by the alarming number of near miss aviation incidents we’ve seen recently. These incidents are on some level happening because of the industry currently being less experienced than in the past.
However, that’s not because of any “woke” hiring practices, but rather because we have a pilot shortage. That pilot shortage is happening because of how many pilots took early retirement packages at the start of the pandemic, and now we’ve seen a rapid recovery in demand for air travel.
Blaming the current lack of collective experience in the cockpit on “wokeness” is simply baseless and dishonest. But I suppose we shouldn’t let facts get in the way of a good story…
What do you make of Tucker Carlson’s take on aviation safety?
Work in airline see the downfall in professionalism and expectations ! Hiring frenzy…. Not worthiness of professional needs!
Right or wrong, the article doesn't prove anything to discredit what Tucker Carlson said. One of the examples to disprove Carlson is that there is a minimum of 1,500 hours of training required for everyone. I've seen people who get 1 hour of training for 1,500 hours in a row. The amount of training doesn't necessarily correlate to the ability of the person or their propensity to be trained. Woke and "equity" should be thrown...
Right or wrong, the article doesn't prove anything to discredit what Tucker Carlson said. One of the examples to disprove Carlson is that there is a minimum of 1,500 hours of training required for everyone. I've seen people who get 1 hour of training for 1,500 hours in a row. The amount of training doesn't necessarily correlate to the ability of the person or their propensity to be trained. Woke and "equity" should be thrown out and the most capable people hired in the aviation industry regardless of race. Also, Tucker Carlson absolutely did NOT blame minorities for the nears misses, etc. He would be fine with any minority who was capable and was the best candidate for the job. Being that this article said this in a "headline" shows to me that they are once again playing the race-card and race-baiting. This has nothing to do with race, only with ability.
As a retired airline pilot with over 37 years at TWA, I trained many pilots for the airline. They included many races and both genders. Color or sex have nothing to do with competency. However, when an airline starts hiring based primarily on that basis, red flags should go up. The statement by the United CEO that their goal is to have 50% of theeir new hire pilots through 2030 be "Females or people of...
As a retired airline pilot with over 37 years at TWA, I trained many pilots for the airline. They included many races and both genders. Color or sex have nothing to do with competency. However, when an airline starts hiring based primarily on that basis, red flags should go up. The statement by the United CEO that their goal is to have 50% of theeir new hire pilots through 2030 be "Females or people of color" needs to be closely examined. Sure sounds "woke" based to me. I discuss this in an American Thinker article: https://open.substack.com/pub/naomiwolf/p/dear-conservatives-i-am-sorry?r=1nbcvc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web.
Full-stall on the 777 from OGG. Flaps retracted from takeoff to UP at 800 ft.
What's your point, if any?
LOL at all the triggered alt-right freaks here. It never fails and they can’t resist.
Hiring based on race or color? Not ability? Could a country be this stupid?
Believing a liar like Tucker Carlson? Not reality? Could anyone postng on this site be this stupid?
A plane takes off from Hawaii and goes into a nosedive over the ocean coming 300 feet from the surface then pulls up. The pilots were new. I heard the CEO of United state that 50 percent of new pilots MUST BE MINORITY. WHY? You can open the profession to people who can't afford to become pilots BUT you cannot mandate that they be "non white." That is racist. Airlines also want to lessen the...
A plane takes off from Hawaii and goes into a nosedive over the ocean coming 300 feet from the surface then pulls up. The pilots were new. I heard the CEO of United state that 50 percent of new pilots MUST BE MINORITY. WHY? You can open the profession to people who can't afford to become pilots BUT you cannot mandate that they be "non white." That is racist. Airlines also want to lessen the number of hours a person needs to become a pilot. I think this program will fail because it takes YEARS to sit on the left seat of an aircraft. Football players are mostly BLACK. Why can't pilots be mostly white? We should not try to orchestrate who does what. The airlines let the experienced pilots go and took our money. It is all about profit. I wish pilots all came from the military where they have thousands of flying hours. The airlines SUCK. The service is bad, they lose your bags and now they don't care who sits in the cockpit as long as it isn't a white person. You REALLY okay with this?
The plane didn't "go into a nosedive", it was thrown about by severe turbulence. Obviously you are totally ignorant about flying an airplane. And you subscribe to a very odd view of race and competence. And honesty.
What I did not see was the fact that the Biden Administration also mandated that all pilots and crews be vaccinated and those that did not take the jab were fired. So fine...there were experienced pilots that took advantage of early retirement but the one's that were fired were NOT all seniors captains...so while the author of this article danced around the issues...he has not convinced me that the Biden Administration isn't front and center...
What I did not see was the fact that the Biden Administration also mandated that all pilots and crews be vaccinated and those that did not take the jab were fired. So fine...there were experienced pilots that took advantage of early retirement but the one's that were fired were NOT all seniors captains...so while the author of this article danced around the issues...he has not convinced me that the Biden Administration isn't front and center of an ever increasingly dangerous environment around commercial airlines.
While I'm sure Tucker and friends will say otherwise, there was no such mandate. Airlines created their own policies surrounding vaccine mandates, and in the case of United's 13,000 pilots, six opted to not get the vaccine and were fired.
Another miss from the right. Not unusual.
You did not see that 'fact' because it's not a fact, it's a lie. Actual Fake News.
Regardless of what was said, the basic principal of equity is that you are NOT always hiring the best candidate, and because you have to hire based on skin color by percentage, it will eventually trickle down --if those candidates are not the top of the class for their performance. That is alarming.
Is Tucker Carlson aware that the first contest of what would become the "Top Gun" competitions was won by black pilots from the Tuskeegee Airmen?
The white pilots and instructors were so angry that the Red Tail pilots beat them, that they refused to give them the trophy. It sat in a broom closet for more than 60 years, until the deception was discovered, and it was officially given to them and their descendants.
Those...
Is Tucker Carlson aware that the first contest of what would become the "Top Gun" competitions was won by black pilots from the Tuskeegee Airmen?
The white pilots and instructors were so angry that the Red Tail pilots beat them, that they refused to give them the trophy. It sat in a broom closet for more than 60 years, until the deception was discovered, and it was officially given to them and their descendants.
Those pilots -- who had demonstrated that they were better than their white peers -- could have become excellent commmercial pilots. Except for the fact that no one in those days would have allowed them to compete or train such a job.
Tucker Carlson needs to stop talking, and start listening and reading actual facts and history of what diversity actually is, and does.
Tucker is correct. Woke policies from Pete Buttigieg interferes with the real problems we have in the aviation industry. Can we get a competent Transportation Secretary? If you listen to Tucker you will know what he is talking about and he has had several sessions on this topic. Taking one clip, without the background, sounds like a drive-by analysis that many Americans do with look in-depth anaylsis of the problem. We need to stop woke...
Tucker is correct. Woke policies from Pete Buttigieg interferes with the real problems we have in the aviation industry. Can we get a competent Transportation Secretary? If you listen to Tucker you will know what he is talking about and he has had several sessions on this topic. Taking one clip, without the background, sounds like a drive-by analysis that many Americans do with look in-depth anaylsis of the problem. We need to stop woke craziness and get to problem solving.
Please explain what Woke means to you?
"We need to stop woke craziness and get to problem solving."
---- while Tucker spends his time on woke craziness, we fortunately have the NTSB to work on problem solving. Good thing they don't waste their skills trying to link "woke culture" to incidents, or we might never learn anything. ;-)
Putting Tucker aside, there are a lot of pilots that are getting tired of commuting and being on reserve. There are a lot of pilots that would rather live and be based in the same city. A senior narrow body captain is making pretty good money these days, so are senior first officers. For someone that lives and is based out of DFW or ATL it’s not worth chasing a wide body seat if it...
Putting Tucker aside, there are a lot of pilots that are getting tired of commuting and being on reserve. There are a lot of pilots that would rather live and be based in the same city. A senior narrow body captain is making pretty good money these days, so are senior first officers. For someone that lives and is based out of DFW or ATL it’s not worth chasing a wide body seat if it means commuting to JFK or MIA and sitting on reserve. Not everyone feels this way but enough do and it contributes to some junior pilots flying the 777 and other widebodies. Airlines have some options to address this situation but have been slow to do so.
For starters, I am a recently retired airline pilot of 30 years, not some liberal agenda driven dweeb that does not know squat about this subject.
YES, equity hiring is compromising safety in the flight deck AND the federal control towers. Obama mandated it for ATC and some of these folks speak I need very bad English. The airlines have 27 year old HR people doingthe pilot hiring and they are woke driven to the core.
The only thing that changed about ATC hiring during Obama's administration was the BioQ, which went from 2014 and ended in 2018. Indeed I'm aware of instances where a controller's English needed improvement, but that even preceeds Obama. Want to Blame Bush? Or Sr?
They've been hiring controllers from off the street for at least 30 years.
At the end of the day though, when you listen to Tucker's specific words, he is absolutely wrong...
The only thing that changed about ATC hiring during Obama's administration was the BioQ, which went from 2014 and ended in 2018. Indeed I'm aware of instances where a controller's English needed improvement, but that even preceeds Obama. Want to Blame Bush? Or Sr?
They've been hiring controllers from off the street for at least 30 years.
At the end of the day though, when you listen to Tucker's specific words, he is absolutely wrong about his claims related to Biden and ATC. (I described it in another comment).
You indeed aren't a liberal agenda driven dweeb, but you might indeed be a conservative one.
Years ago those Delta pilots who landed at the wrong airport weren't PC hires - just good ol' boys. And the UAL pilot who flew into a mountainside in bad weather ditto. Go through the list of fatal US air accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_airliners_in_the_United_States and report back on how many of these were due to preferential hiring. Most of them occurred long before preferential hiring existed.
Fox’s own legal team said his word can’t be taken seriously. And yet so many people still do for reasons I don’t wish to fathom
At the end of the day, Tucker Carlson has an opinion on the reasons why.... and OMAAT has it's own opinions on the reasons why.... so as an observer of both, who do I align with? .... that would be Tucker..... Princess..... stick to travel sweetheart. It's held you in good stead obviously.... until you stopped traveling.... most of your stories now are looking like the Twitterati, and now you get involved in politics.... so...
At the end of the day, Tucker Carlson has an opinion on the reasons why.... and OMAAT has it's own opinions on the reasons why.... so as an observer of both, who do I align with? .... that would be Tucker..... Princess..... stick to travel sweetheart. It's held you in good stead obviously.... until you stopped traveling.... most of your stories now are looking like the Twitterati, and now you get involved in politics.... so how about this, leave the wife ( or is she the husband? ) at home, you keep traveling... your site remains relevant because of first-hand experiences, rather than hear-say ( and it's obvious it is all hear-say now ) and steer clear of woke politics... mate
This guy is clearly a Democrat trying some false flag crap
Nope, I recognize the poster, he's posted similar MAGA-esque mouth breathing rants before
Well that's a shame, but given that it seems to have its own talent for creating falsehoods and alternate realities (Ben hasn't traveled/it's hear-say), then I guess it's not too surprising it'd side with Tucker.
Phobia over ration.
sad how many Americans watch that garbage
Carlson's reporting is 100% accurate.
There are VETEREN PILOTS and AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS who all agree.
The people being hired in this industry are UNDER qualified for these positions.
Its scary
I guess we just take your word for it then, because I could name veteran ATCs who DISAGREE.
"Biden imposed the principle of equity on the airlines, and this meant dramatically lowering hiring standards for pilots and for air traffic controllers."
This is the premise of the whole thing, and yet nothing else said in the entire video shows any link of the principles of equity and hiring practices. Nor does it offer any actual explanation as to how Biden is involved.
Also, since airlines don't employ air traffic controllers, the idea that...
"Biden imposed the principle of equity on the airlines, and this meant dramatically lowering hiring standards for pilots and for air traffic controllers."
This is the premise of the whole thing, and yet nothing else said in the entire video shows any link of the principles of equity and hiring practices. Nor does it offer any actual explanation as to how Biden is involved.
Also, since airlines don't employ air traffic controllers, the idea that imposing equity on the airlines impacts ATC hiring standards... that has no basis in reality.
I've heard of no changes to ATC hiring since Biden took office.
Looks like a United 777 crossed a runway at HNL in front of a Cessna
Tucker Carlson is the same person who whips up anti-trans hysteria by having guests like Kara Dansky and Chris Rufo on his show.
Do you walk up to the crazed lunatic on the street corner screaming, "The End is Near!!" I think not. Because what's the point in discussing it? It just gives them the attention they are fishing for. And Fox is loving that you actually engaged them. The more people that disagree means the more that engage meaning the more dollars they collect to continue it over and over and over again.
in over 130 replies, not one person, including Ben has addressed the 3 things which he specifically said are false.
Ben said:
Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the name of equity; this is fake news, and the same 1,500-hour minimum still applies, as before, though some airlines have lowered the hours they require above and beyond that, due to the general pilot shortage (that comes down to supply...
in over 130 replies, not one person, including Ben has addressed the 3 things which he specifically said are false.
Ben said:
Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the name of equity; this is fake news, and the same 1,500-hour minimum still applies, as before, though some airlines have lowered the hours they require above and beyond that, due to the general pilot shortage (that comes down to supply and demand)
That is FACTUALLY true. Southwest just lowered the amount of turbine time from 1000 hours to 500 hours - but pilots on other sites say that American and United already did this. I don't know nor do I care to make a comparison but Southwest has reduced ITS OWN STANDARDS.
No large jet airline hires pilots with FAA minimums which people here have repeatedly cited.
BEN IS INCORRECT ON THIS ASSERTION ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE THAT REPLIED TO SUPPORT HIM ON THAT MATTER.
United has indeed opened a new flight academy for pilots, with a diversity quota; however, not a single pilot from that academy is flying at United Airlines yet, so you can’t blame any safety issues on that
I didn't see the entire program or the clips so I don't know what Carlson said but it is problematic if race or quota rather than professional qualification is used in any process where competency is most important.
The issue which was raised elsewhere by the anonymous pilot is that the pilots were LOW SENIORITY, LOW EXPERIENCE ON THE 777,
AND THERE WAS A RACE COMPONENT.
Deal with everything that the anonymous pilot said.
The only way to prove whether he was wrong is to provide the experience and time in the 777 at United and not their total flying time.
I want the best and most qualified pilot AND THEN anything possible to promote non-traditional pilots.
I love that the source for a national news story is an anonymous pilot who says he heard something from another pilot; the information isn’t even correct
IF HE IS RIGHT, IT DOESN'T TAKE MULTIPLE SOURCES.
POST THE PILOTS' EXPERIENCE AND PROVE HIM WRONG IF YOU BELIEVE HE IS WRONG.
The diversity component is about applications for the academy, airlines promote exclusively on Seniority, if you can hold it you can fly it. I'm not sure why flying a 747 for atlas, or a 175 for envoy is all that different from flying a 777 for American it really isn't, and you can absolutely end up flying American airlines operated by a regional with substantially lower crew experience.
If you don't think there is a difference between a 777 and an e175 and want pilots that are experienced in their own type, then I will make sure you aren't involved in pilot placement.
The FAA, however, knows that competence in a particular model is important which is why it does not allow US pilots to be type rated on multiple airplane types at a time.
Tucker doesn't provide any data to back up the assertion that the lowered standards are for purposes of equity. But seems true that Ben is incorrect... some airlines have lowered their standards.
"The issue which was raised elsewhere by the anonymous pilot is that the pilots were LOW SENIORITY, LOW EXPERIENCE ON THE 777,
AND THERE WAS A RACE COMPONENT."
Tucker provides data from an anonymous source, but that source did NOT specify low...
Tucker doesn't provide any data to back up the assertion that the lowered standards are for purposes of equity. But seems true that Ben is incorrect... some airlines have lowered their standards.
"The issue which was raised elsewhere by the anonymous pilot is that the pilots were LOW SENIORITY, LOW EXPERIENCE ON THE 777,
AND THERE WAS A RACE COMPONENT."
Tucker provides data from an anonymous source, but that source did NOT specify low experience on the 777, nor is there any mention of race (though again, the foundation for this segment is to push the idea that race plays a factor in incidents like this).
The source did say that the Captain was brand new, and that the FO was a new hire. You can barely derive anything of note from that, at least in terms of how Biden's equity agenda played a role.
What does "brand new" and "new hire" even mean? I think what Tucker wants you to think is that they took a couple guys off the street from a hood somewhere and threw them into the flight deck.
"problematic if race or quota rather than professional qualification is used in any process where competency is most important."
This assumes that the end result is compromised competency.
I want someone who has the ability to safely do the job at the front of the plane. Whether that's someone who succeeded at the diversity training academy or someone who was formerly a military pilot... that makes no difference.
I’ll give you that a lot of pilots retired. Not a Tucker fan. However my neighbor is a United 787 pilot so I asked him about that 777 flight and he told me those pilots were under-qualified. I fly a lot and this is very upsetting for me. What I know is that NO airline should be lowering standards I’d rate they rehire some of the retired pilots they let go with government money until...
I’ll give you that a lot of pilots retired. Not a Tucker fan. However my neighbor is a United 787 pilot so I asked him about that 777 flight and he told me those pilots were under-qualified. I fly a lot and this is very upsetting for me. What I know is that NO airline should be lowering standards I’d rate they rehire some of the retired pilots they let go with government money until others can obtain the necessary qualifications. I’ll be writing the United CEO. They need to get this under control. Too many near misses and if I have learned anything if life, if the root cause isn’t identified and fix, people are going to die. I feel less safe flying today. We need to hear from United on this.
You should probably ask for more specifics from your neighbor. Why were they "under-qualified"?
I'm pretty confident you either meet the qualifications to fly a certain plane, or you don't.
Next, you should ask for specifics about the event to verify that each of their levels of experience played a factor in this.
For all we know, one or both of these "under-qualified" pilots might have saved the day after a system error or a...
You should probably ask for more specifics from your neighbor. Why were they "under-qualified"?
I'm pretty confident you either meet the qualifications to fly a certain plane, or you don't.
Next, you should ask for specifics about the event to verify that each of their levels of experience played a factor in this.
For all we know, one or both of these "under-qualified" pilots might have saved the day after a system error or a weather event or something else.
Also, since you've brought up "too many near misses", you're going to need to write a lot more letters than just to Scott Kirby.
The airline HR departments play this little game where they set the entry requirements to a low minimal level, but set minimums higher if requirements at different levels based on equity principles. The most represented pilot racial groups Have to wait until the have around 5000 flight hours to get hired. While less represented groups who fill a quota get hired with lower experience levels. One can easily argue whether that’s “safe” or not, but...
The airline HR departments play this little game where they set the entry requirements to a low minimal level, but set minimums higher if requirements at different levels based on equity principles. The most represented pilot racial groups Have to wait until the have around 5000 flight hours to get hired. While less represented groups who fill a quota get hired with lower experience levels. One can easily argue whether that’s “safe” or not, but it ends up putting more stress on Captains to keep the flight safe with the less experienced crew members. In a nutshell, they keep the qualifications low to justify their HR hiring principles, but everyone else ends up having to meet higher standards. While this my make up for some perceived pay disparities, what it essentially does is creat an atmosphere where new hires with less experience constantly try to prove that they deserve to be there while creating resentment amongst those who have to work harder and longer to obtain the same position.
For starters, I am a recently retired airline pilot of 30 years, not some liberal agenda driven dweeb that does not know squat about this subject.
YES, equity hiring is compromising safety in the flight deck AND the federal control towers. Obama mandated it for ATC and some of these folks speak I need very bad English. The airlines have 27 year old HR people doingthe pilot hiring and they are woke driven to the core.
The only thing that changed about ATC hiring during Obama's administration was the BioQ, which went from 2014 and ended in 2018. Indeed I'm aware of instances where a controller's English needed improvement, but that even preceeds Obama. Want to Blame Bush? Or Sr?
They've been hiring controllers from off the street for at least 30 years.
At the end of the day though, when you listen to Tucker's specific words, he is absolutely wrong...
The only thing that changed about ATC hiring during Obama's administration was the BioQ, which went from 2014 and ended in 2018. Indeed I'm aware of instances where a controller's English needed improvement, but that even preceeds Obama. Want to Blame Bush? Or Sr?
They've been hiring controllers from off the street for at least 30 years.
At the end of the day though, when you listen to Tucker's specific words, he is absolutely wrong about his claims related to Biden and ATC. (I described it in another comment).
You indeed aren't a liberal agenda driven dweeb, but you might indeed be a conservative one.
It is simple. For at least the last 8-10 years NOTHING coming out of the mouths (or any other media) of republicans is true. NOTHING. N.O.T.H.I.N.G. There is nothing more morally corrupt than a republican of the last decade.
Yeah, there is something more corrupt - a democrat!
Hey Ben. Maybe lay off the incendiary politics?
Remember your embarrassing debacle with a certain boy band member? And the fury that ignited? Tucker doesn't have a monopoly on dumb topics.
Encapsulates what's wrong with today's implementation of the First Amendment: talking head can do damage by making stuff up.
It's time to change the system. There should be consequences for lying, just like with toddlers.
Isn't life a bitch when anonymous sources make false accusations. Just like when you hate on Trump for so many years only to find out is was all untrue - oh except his mean tweets. Grow-up and open your eyes.
The pilot shortage has been coming for many years before COVID and nothing has been planned or done to fix it. As Government goes this is the equivalent of the USPS in charge of the...
Isn't life a bitch when anonymous sources make false accusations. Just like when you hate on Trump for so many years only to find out is was all untrue - oh except his mean tweets. Grow-up and open your eyes.
The pilot shortage has been coming for many years before COVID and nothing has been planned or done to fix it. As Government goes this is the equivalent of the USPS in charge of the FAA. Government is ill-prepared and ill-equipped to address these problems and prioritizing a WOK agenda over aviation skills only exacerbates the problem. The FAA just reported they predict 1.5 hull accidents annually world wide. These would be events that damage an aircraft beyond repair - likely crashes killing 100's of people. This predicted outcome is significantly higher than historical averages. Now I have hope for you, can you explain how this is Trump's fault or is it a bloated government out-of-control drunk on its own power?
My brother just retired from United after 25-years of service as a Captain, my father was a Captain for TWA for 28-years flying just about every plane they owned. I have an understanding of the airlines and the industry and just because you hate Tucker's comments does not mean he is wrong. The thrust of his commentary have legitimate concern for safety and just like when Trump was the boss - Biden is in charge and responsible with the help of Mayor Pete. God help us.
This is so full of logical misses that I'd doubt you'd understand the aviation industry if you were working in it, much less that your relatives were pilots.
You try to associate predicted worldwide accidents with our "bloated government", when our government doesn't control planes/airlines worldwide. Or do you think Biden called up Emirates to try to implement woke culture?
You also spent the first half trying to disassociate Trump from anything airline related,...
This is so full of logical misses that I'd doubt you'd understand the aviation industry if you were working in it, much less that your relatives were pilots.
You try to associate predicted worldwide accidents with our "bloated government", when our government doesn't control planes/airlines worldwide. Or do you think Biden called up Emirates to try to implement woke culture?
You also spent the first half trying to disassociate Trump from anything airline related, asking how it could possibly be his fault, and then conclude that anything that happens now must be Bidens fault.
Ben,
The mere number of comments, replies and "replies to replies" on this post suggests it: KEEP OUT OF POLITICS.
There are things at which you are excellent. Politics is not one of them. There are on this blog, your blog, whether you like it or not, Democrats AND Republicans, and they are interested in Air Travel and Credit Cards. For politics, they go, I go, elsewhere.
Tucker Carlson sucks at what he does,...
Ben,
The mere number of comments, replies and "replies to replies" on this post suggests it: KEEP OUT OF POLITICS.
There are things at which you are excellent. Politics is not one of them. There are on this blog, your blog, whether you like it or not, Democrats AND Republicans, and they are interested in Air Travel and Credit Cards. For politics, they go, I go, elsewhere.
Tucker Carlson sucks at what he does, both Democrats and many MANY Republicans at least agree on this. However, the pundits at FOX, maybe rightly (I have no idea), have decided that he helps slowing their astounding decline in audience. So he has partisans. If you do not like him, don't watch him, I don't.
This reminds me of the big sign which used to hang very wide at the exit of the NY Midtown Tunnel: "If you don't like gay marriage, Don't gay marry".
If you don't like posts about these topics, don't read those posts
Just so I'm clear, please explain where Ben is making a political statement as opposed to correcting misinformation with facts. As a reminder, here's what he wrote - I'll even repost it so you don't have to leave the comments. Kindly copy and paste the parts of this that are political into your reply. Thank you.
==
Now, to address Carlson’s bizarre claims:
-Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the...
Just so I'm clear, please explain where Ben is making a political statement as opposed to correcting misinformation with facts. As a reminder, here's what he wrote - I'll even repost it so you don't have to leave the comments. Kindly copy and paste the parts of this that are political into your reply. Thank you.
==
Now, to address Carlson’s bizarre claims:
-Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the name of equity; this is fake news, and the same 1,500-hour minimum still applies, as before, though some airlines have lowered the hours they require above and beyond that, due to the general pilot shortage (that comes down to supply and demand)
-United has indeed opened a new flight academy for pilots, with a diversity quota; however, not a single pilot from that academy is flying at United Airlines yet, so you can’t blame any safety issues on that
-I love that the source for a national news story is an anonymous pilot who says he heard something from another pilot; the information isn’t even correct
Bottom line
Tucker Carlson is trying to insinuate that we’re seeing a series of aviation incidents because of President Biden’s “woke” policies. Regardless of where you stand politically, this is patently false.
Yes, there’s reason to be concerned by the alarming number of near miss aviation incidents we’ve seen recently. These incidents are on some level happening because of the industry currently being less experienced than in the past.
However, that’s not because of any “woke” hiring practices, but rather because we have a pilot shortage. That pilot shortage is happening because of how many pilots took early retirement packages at the start of the pandemic, and now we’ve seen a rapid recovery in demand for air travel.
Blaming the current lack of collective experience in the cockpit on “wokeness” is simply baseless and dishonest. But I suppose we shouldn’t let facts get in the way of a good story…
"Of course I’m not a regular viewer of his program..."
Calling that a political statement is quite the jump... lol
Pierre: ""Of course I’m not a regular viewer of his program...""
LMFAO.
Ben depoliticized the issue. The only person making this argument about politics is you.
Me and about 10 other posters on this topic alone... Grow up !
Ben, just don't. You used to have a blog about miles and points and how to get great value out of them. And now, this? Yes, posts like this attract a lot of traffic and comments, but at a cost of your reputation and the quality of your blog. Your blog is getting more and more of the same left good, right bad stuff. Leave politics out, please.
While no one is going to claim Ben is right wing, he also did not really take a political stand. He simply pointed out that Tucker is factually wrong about an aviation-related topic. Seems to me to be well within his lane.
"Aviation used to be safe until Biden became president, because “Biden imposed the principles of equity on the airlines, and that meant dramatically lowering hiring standards for pilots and for air traffic controllers” --- is just racist for "brown pilots are crashing planes."
"Carlson concludes that “this is what it looks like in real terms when you decide that identity is more important than aptitude in something critical like aviation” --- is just racist for...
"Aviation used to be safe until Biden became president, because “Biden imposed the principles of equity on the airlines, and that meant dramatically lowering hiring standards for pilots and for air traffic controllers” --- is just racist for "brown pilots are crashing planes."
"Carlson concludes that “this is what it looks like in real terms when you decide that identity is more important than aptitude in something critical like aviation” --- is just racist for "brown pilots are crashing planes."
"Woke" (spoken by GOP) --- is just racist for "brown people."
I will say Fox News and its ilk are really good at taking liberal buzzwords and turning them into their own. But frankly, this article is too kind to Tucker in trying to rationally explain and argue with his racist rhetoric (all in search of ratings).
My nephew is an officer in the U.S. Navy. Since Biden has become President they have been bombarded with the “woke” philosophy. He feels that this new emphasis affects their readiness. Doesn’t surprise me that the same thing would happen in the aviation industry.
It would be interesting to hear what you and your nephew believe the definition of "woke" to be.
It would also be interesting to hear an actual example of what's supposedly so objectionable.
I think you know it very well... why pretend?
My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.
Your nephew's feelings aren't facts.
While I generally agree that there are a lot of unsupported allegations in the list of things you include (because I have found you have been generally even-handed more often than not, I am giving you the benefit of the doubt in compiling this list without me having watched the clip). Some are just flat-out unbelievable, e.g. the 15 of 25 landings in the dirt. However, I must comment on your conclusions:
"Carlson claims that...
While I generally agree that there are a lot of unsupported allegations in the list of things you include (because I have found you have been generally even-handed more often than not, I am giving you the benefit of the doubt in compiling this list without me having watched the clip). Some are just flat-out unbelievable, e.g. the 15 of 25 landings in the dirt. However, I must comment on your conclusions:
"Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the name of equity; this is fake news, and the same 1,500-hour minimum still applies, as before, though some airlines have lowered the hours they require above and beyond that, due to the general pilot shortage (that comes down to supply and demand)" - While Tucker's framing certainly seems more dramatic than necessary, your own statement does suggest that standards now are lower than they were in years past. Reducing additional hours required, even though still meeting federal minimums, is a lower standard. Perhaps this is necessity or at least a practical reality, but it doesn't sound outlandish that newly hired pilots now may, indeed, be less qualified than they were five years ago.
"United has indeed opened a new flight academy for pilots, with a diversity quota; however, not a single pilot from that academy is flying at United Airlines yet, so you can’t blame any safety issues on that" - You are right that none of these hires were responsible for any incidents at this point, hiring airline pilots on anything other than pure merit is problematic. As a financial professional, if I am not qualified and make a mistake on a financial model, no one dies. If a pilot makes a mistake, hundreds could die. At the end of the day, I do not care what race or gender the people on the flight deck are. I care if they are the absolute most qualified people who were hired solely on that. I think all jobs in any industry should be filled based on merit alone, but even more so when lives are literally at stake.
"I love that the source for a national news story is an anonymous pilot who says he heard something from another pilot; the information isn’t even correct" - Technically, Tucker Carlson is not news, he's commentary. That may be a facetious point, but I think it is crucial distinction that is cavalierly ignored by many. (And the same is true of commentary programs on left-leaning outlets as well.) I can't say who these anonymous sources are, but I do not find it that outlandish that a "news" story is based on anonymous sources. This happens all the time. And I don't think it is outlandish or unbelievable that a pilot would not speak publicly about airline operations and certainly not if anything touches on the current desire to put "diversity" on par, if not above, par with merit. Surely you are aware of how quickly anyone who does not to the line on these programs or rhetoric are demonized and attacked for daring to disagree. The more common term is "canceled." So it's completely understandable that someone would only speak anonymously. To dismiss their comments based on that is unfair. It's find to have issues with the believability or accuracy of those sources, of course.
I’m a 30 year Captain at a major airline. The airlines need to start adding more simulator training and more ground school classroom to the new hire curriculum. I look at what the cumulative amount of changes I’ve learned over 37 years and wonder how these kids can learn understand and more importantly practically apply nearly 4 decades of additions of regulations policies and procedures.
And I would prefer airlines detach the persons race...
I’m a 30 year Captain at a major airline. The airlines need to start adding more simulator training and more ground school classroom to the new hire curriculum. I look at what the cumulative amount of changes I’ve learned over 37 years and wonder how these kids can learn understand and more importantly practically apply nearly 4 decades of additions of regulations policies and procedures.
And I would prefer airlines detach the persons race and sex from their application and hire on the important things that apply to the position.
The spacing is being tightened on the taxiways and airways. And I don’t ever recall my or any airline REDUCING the large amounts of minutiae they tend to want to gravitate to in training. My MD80 manual and Company flight manual 37 years ago was combined 2 inches thick. Now the iPad is stuffed with 25,000 pages of minutiae. 12 different manuals. And you have to sort through all that to determine what degree of importance to place on each. New hires don’t have that ability due to limited experience. So they’re reading and placing equal importance on a lav flush motor cycle … as say the ILS CRITICAL AREA criteria. So both tidbits of information get stored in the same part of their brain. Where the Critical Area criteria is far more important and needs to be relegated to more long term permanent storage in memory.
The human brain is like a table and each tidbit of info is a golf ball. More important tidbits are red balls that should stay in the middle. Less important tidbits are white and stay towards the edges of the table. So as more information over a career is added…. what tends to fall off fist and forgotten unless studied for are the less important tidbits. The white ones on the edges.
But new hires are getting 4 decades of stuff crammed at them. In 2 weeks. All the balls for them are white. And more important critical information is forgotten faster. And therein lies the problem.
Combine this with less experienced controllers as well. And maintenance that is being farmed out overseas to unlicensed mechanics. Only to be SUPPOSEDLY inspected and signed off by a license mechanic. You see where this is heading.
So Tucker touched on just a piece of the danger that is being permitted by Republicans and Democrats alike. Farming out maintenance. Inexperience pilots and controllers. Inexperienced mechanics.
Look. If hiring is tinged based on race and sex and sexual preferences…. then it logically follows that there are instances where a less qualified individual gets hired. And aviation is only as strong as its weakest link. At some points too many links get weakened and the chain breaks. We are seeing things happening now we could never envision happening even 10 years ago.
And the pilots shortage is a product of airline scope agreements that for decades paid pilots so little many where also on government food subsidies to live on. Please do not bore me with Covid stories. The pilot shortage has been snowballing for 20 years.
So training has been reduced about 30%. Information policies procedures regulations has been increased x10. Less experienced pilots are being hired and paired together with less experienced Captains communicating with less experienced controllers and using flight plans prepared by less experienced dispatchers. Using airplanes with Heavy maintenance performed in foreign countries. In a system that is being squeezed to allow more takeoffs and landings.
So what Karlson says is true but a small part of the pie. It does add a weak link to the chain that SHOULD be unbreakable.
" If hiring is tinged based on race and sex and sexual preferences…. then it logically follows that there are instances where a less qualified individual gets hired."
I keep seeing people make this kind of statement, but the logic is deeply flawed in at least two ways.
1) It assumes that the previous hiring system was not itself influenced by considerations of the applicants' identities.
2) It assumes that a "diversity bonus" allows for...
" If hiring is tinged based on race and sex and sexual preferences…. then it logically follows that there are instances where a less qualified individual gets hired."
I keep seeing people make this kind of statement, but the logic is deeply flawed in at least two ways.
1) It assumes that the previous hiring system was not itself influenced by considerations of the applicants' identities.
2) It assumes that a "diversity bonus" allows for the selection of otherwise unqualified candidates, rather than the selection of a more diverse set of qualified candidates.
It reminds me of the bad arguments Abigail Fisher made in her anti-affirmative action lawsuit.
"logic is deeply flawed"
Agreed.
Yes Captain and the vaunted Airline Pilots Association (The union) to this day DENIES any pilot shortage. THEY are part of the problem.
I have concerns overall. Let's see a Hudson River like incident on a fully loaded Frontier 200 plus seat A321 and see if all the passengers are able to get out in time. Particularly when you look at the obesity of so many Americans-most of which seem to struggle walking up the jet bridge, leave alone exiting over a wing in 90 seconds.
After "Tucker Carlson" in the headline, the "unhinged" and "dishonest" were superfluous.
Wie Gehts Alles???
If Tucker Carlson had a brain he would be jailed for smuggling SHIT!
Yep
Can’t believe a word he says
I was one of those pilots forced into retirement by the pandemic.Fourty five years and 25,000 hours of experience.
Luckily started a new job new airline last month.
let us know how you were forced into retirement, please.
and then connect the dots w/ what Tucker Carlson says and why it is so hard to let him have an opinion just like everyone else gets.
Glad you have landed once again on your feet.
Oh Tucker gets to have an opinion. But remember why his opinion is televised. He has an audience that butters his bread. He will court that following to keep his paycheck and employment. So that alone makes his reporting suspect. And was it Hannity or Carlson that used "entertainment" to try to avoid the Dominion lawsuit? No matter, anything insinuated on Fox should be considered conservative entertainment!
WOW you are a LIAR or just incapable of listening or reading...Tucker was NOT TALKING about SWA in Austin, he was referring to an UNREPORTED go around at IAH Houston. At IAH a Untied on approach below 600ft had to go around because another aircraft was cleared past the hold short bar.
Hey why don't you bring up JFK as well, Tucker wasn't talking about either. The FAA has been FORCE FEEDING Towers unqualified controllers that is the issue.
Sorry but your nick says it all.
Talking heads like Tucker are judged based on audience share and nothing builds that faster than the sensational right leaning diatribes like he is famous for.
Interestingly both Lucky's comments and the chyron for the "story" are accurate though. We are facing a shortage of experience pilots, you had seen this start before Covid but the early retirements generated during Covid have really exacerbated the issue. As most of the recent incidents are still...
Talking heads like Tucker are judged based on audience share and nothing builds that faster than the sensational right leaning diatribes like he is famous for.
Interestingly both Lucky's comments and the chyron for the "story" are accurate though. We are facing a shortage of experience pilots, you had seen this start before Covid but the early retirements generated during Covid have really exacerbated the issue. As most of the recent incidents are still being looked at, it's impossible to say how much experience was a factor. We can say that the FO on the AA near miss at JFK was on her first commercial flight and the flight crew involved in the Maui incident received some kind of "retraining" as reported by multiple news sources.
Where Tucker is veering into supposition though is "wokeness" or the idea of diversity hiring and it's impact. Quite honestly the widespread practice of focusing on DEI in hiring practices is too new in industry and with other compounding factors it's impossible to say it has had any impact on safety to date. I can say though that with resources in most companies being a zero sum game, a focus on DEI will come at the expense of other programs.
Question for the conservatives in the comments section: what, precisely, does the word "woke" mean when you and your kind invoke it?
Easy. It means extreme or radical liberal positions that seek to divide and polarize America by blaming past injustices from centuries ago on current populations. Examples are seeking reparation payments, blaming alleged systematic racism on so called "white privilege", implementing CRT curriculum, defunding police, etc.
Thanks David. Two clarifying questions:
1) You say that "blaming past injustices from centuries ago on current populations" is a feature of wokeness. Can you please cite an example of somebody accusing a "current population" or a member of such a population for committing an act that happened over 100 years ago?
2) How do systems of explicit racial segregation that are much less than 100 years old fit into this framework? For example,...
Thanks David. Two clarifying questions:
1) You say that "blaming past injustices from centuries ago on current populations" is a feature of wokeness. Can you please cite an example of somebody accusing a "current population" or a member of such a population for committing an act that happened over 100 years ago?
2) How do systems of explicit racial segregation that are much less than 100 years old fit into this framework? For example, Brown v. Board of Education outlawed racial segregation in schools less than 70 years ago, and of course was followed by the Massive Resistance campaign, Cooper v. Aaron in 1958, etc. Similarly, prior to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (a mere 55 years ago), it was legal to discriminate on the basis of race in the housing realm. Many people who were directly negatively impacted by these discriminatory systems and programs are still alive today. Is it "woke" to call for them to be made whole?
Easy Ben
1) One example is asking for reparations for descendants of slaves. I wasn't alive in the early 1800's, and my family didn't arrive in the U.S. from Scotland until the late 19th century. Why should I pay my tax dollars for something I wasn't responsible for?
2) Yes it is woke. I am right now old (60) and I was never responsible for any of those issues. My tax dollars shouldn't...
Easy Ben
1) One example is asking for reparations for descendants of slaves. I wasn't alive in the early 1800's, and my family didn't arrive in the U.S. from Scotland until the late 19th century. Why should I pay my tax dollars for something I wasn't responsible for?
2) Yes it is woke. I am right now old (60) and I was never responsible for any of those issues. My tax dollars shouldn't support that. The 1964 Civil Rights Act will be 60 years old next year. So most people who are alive today and still working were under the effects of that act. The real problem was the "Great Society" whereby programs were enacted that have actually continues to hurt the minority communities.
Thank you though for your questions, and not engaging in name calling and instead having a healthy discussion. Unlike some of the posters here, your questions were thoughtful and professional. It's a shame we can't do that more often in this country.
Thanks, David.
Both of your answers reveal something I find disappointing about the conservative mindset (speaking broadly here, of course; I recognize individual differences). The contemporary conservative approach seems deeply rooted in a culture of individual victimhood and grievance. Let me explain.
It is a fact that slavery, school segregation, redlining, and racial discrimination in employment were all condoned--and in many instances, actively carried out by--Federal, state, and local governments. These American units of government...
Thanks, David.
Both of your answers reveal something I find disappointing about the conservative mindset (speaking broadly here, of course; I recognize individual differences). The contemporary conservative approach seems deeply rooted in a culture of individual victimhood and grievance. Let me explain.
It is a fact that slavery, school segregation, redlining, and racial discrimination in employment were all condoned--and in many instances, actively carried out by--Federal, state, and local governments. These American units of government deeply harmed a portion of our American population because they were the wrong color. These policies have been reversed, but their legacy endure. In general, those of us whose ancestors were not victimized by these policies received a head start in life compared to those who were victimized by them.
Today, there are ongoing efforts to try to remedy the effects of--as a reminder--intentional government discrimination on the basis of race. Broadly, these efforts call for *all of us* to pitch in and remedy the harm. They do not single out white people to remedy the harm. They do not single out conservatives to remedy the harm. ALL OF US. My family didn't own slaves. My family didn't hold seats on a segregationist school board. Who cares? As part of a society, I'm happy to shoulder a small share of the obligation to remedy the harms that a past version of our society visited on disfavored populations.
Sadly, conservatives don't see it this way. They see a call for collective action and make it all about themselves. "The government is picking on *me*," they say. "*I'm* not the one who caused the harm. Me, me, me; I, I, I.
Nobody's singling you out, friend. We're just asking you to join us as a member of society and help realize the promise of an equal and just America for all.
your white privilege is showing, David.
No my privilege of making good decisions is showing.
David presents his opinions as truth. They are, we should remember, his opinions.
David, actually "woke" means being "aware" injustices occurred in the past based on color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, etc. and we as a society should do better to stop perpetuating those injustices as we collectively move forward. While catch phrases, "CRT", "Defund the Police", and the "Caravan" are often used by conservatives to rile up support, one thing has always been true: those who ban books are always on the wrong side of history.
Oh, cut the crap. It means "black people" and all of you know it.
It means an annoyingly 'holier-than-thou' attitude stemming from a false sense of moral superiority. A hubris which extends to moralizing and trying to control the free thoughts and actions of others.That's what it means to me and my 'ilk'. But you know, hubris always comes before the fall. ALWAYS. Have a good day, sir.
There appears to have been an uptick in commercial aircraft incidents lately in the USA. We can argue over the causes , but it is also true as you point out that the experience level is lower than the historical average and this is due airline expansion during the pilot shortage.. A shortage which is real.. regardless of what’s being sold to Congress and the pubic by pilot unions….. and with approximately 6500 pilots forced...
There appears to have been an uptick in commercial aircraft incidents lately in the USA. We can argue over the causes , but it is also true as you point out that the experience level is lower than the historical average and this is due airline expansion during the pilot shortage.. A shortage which is real.. regardless of what’s being sold to Congress and the pubic by pilot unions….. and with approximately 6500 pilots forced to retire every year for the next several years… it’s going to get worse not better!
The is a solution to this pilot shortage that is safe, logical and immediate ..simply ask Congress to raise the mandatory airline pilot retirement age above 65 and base that retirement age on safety data/science and medicine vs ageism/unionism.
There are a number of organizations currently lobbying on Capitol Hill to effect change to this discriminatory age retirement policy, but our legislators need to hear from their constituents in order to make this happen. One way to do this is to go to Raisethepilotage.com, register and let your voice be heard. Raising the Pilot retirement age isn’t the single solution to the pilot shortage but it’s the immediate, safe and logical solution.
Tucker is known for amplification it is his style. He has seldom had to retract. However, gaining experience as a pilot takes time. Hours in the air, alone, is not a good measure due to the length of modern airline flights. The number of landings is better. The best may be the number of times the pilot bit a hole in his seat. For all the reasons Tucker mentioned, the experience level among airline pilots has diminished and there is not quick fix.
Nikki Haley is going to run in ‘24. She should do so under her birth name Nimrata Radhawa, and republicans will go apoplectic when they find out she’s not Caucasian.
Back to the topic, and clearly he knows nothing about aviation.
Republicans don't care what your race is, only your principles. Race does not determine if you're republican or democrat but Democrats don't seem to understand why any non-person white person could vote GOP and call any African American that isn't a Democrat an "Uncle Tom" or a race sell-out. This is a perfect example of why there is such division and hate in this country. Think for yourself and respect that others have different political views.
Whether Tucker knows anything about aviation is a valid discussion, but it's clear you don't know anything about conservatives. Maybe you should actually talk to a conservative with an open mind rather that believing and promulgating fallacious stereotypes.
Icarus: You don't get it at all. The reason conservatives love her is because she is not Caucasian and has succeeded on merit. But what does Nikki Haley have to do with airline safety in the first place? Just a chance to get in a dig against those with whom you do not agree?
Wow this one opened the virtue-signalling floodgates. Be as righteously indignated as you like, but if you don't think that lowering standards to appear to be more diverse in hiring - or for whatever reason - will not impact safety, you're deluding yourself.
And are airlines actually "lowering standards to appear to be more diverse in hiring"? What is the evidence for that?
Didn't Obama put an incredible focus on diversity when it came to air traffic controllers?
Google it and get back to us.
We’re not your research assistants.
Ask and Ye Shall Receive:
Starting in 2014 the FAA added a biographical questionnaire to the application process. Applicants with a lower aptitude in science got preference over applicants who had scored excellent in science. Applicants who had been unemployed for the previous three years got more points than licensed pilots got. In other words, the FAA actively searched for unqualified air traffic controllers. That is insane and they knew it was insane when...
Ask and Ye Shall Receive:
Starting in 2014 the FAA added a biographical questionnaire to the application process. Applicants with a lower aptitude in science got preference over applicants who had scored excellent in science. Applicants who had been unemployed for the previous three years got more points than licensed pilots got. In other words, the FAA actively searched for unqualified air traffic controllers. That is insane and they knew it was insane when they did it but they did it anyway.
Today we obtained new information, it is an internal email written by an executive at the firm that devised the FAA's biographical questionnaire. In that email, the executive admits that the test he devised has nothing to do with finding the best air traffic controllers. If you want good air traffic controllers, find people with experience, that was his advice. The FAA ignored this and used the biographical screen anyway. They didn't care about finding the best air traffic controllers. Compared to diversity, your safety meant nothing to them.
@Jeffrey Chang
Where did you get this information? It looks like you just pasted text in from some other source, but what is the source? Who is the "we" in the text?
Is this information from a trustworthy/informed source, or is it more anonymous gibberish from Fox News?
Google it and find out. We’re not your research assistants.
What is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Translation: If you make the claim either document it, or get ridiculed.
The description is regarding the court case:
BRIGIDA v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Republicans are fundamentally dishonest and openly racist. Film at eleven.
When liberals have no arguments to support their beliefs, they trot out the racist claim. It shows how intellectually bankrupt they really are.
BTW - it was Biden who delivered a eulogy at a KKK leaders funeral, not Trump. And it was Biden who said if you dont vote for me you ain't black. And it was Biden who said in order to enter a Dunkin Doughnuts you had to have a slight Indian accent.
haha. David. Dude, you are so transparent. Shining example of the nonsense from much of the right. Say something confidently enough and imbeciles will believe it. Don't do any actual research on what you're saying because, uh, well that may conflict with your narrative. Reality? Robert Byrd was a member of the KKK in his early 20's. He became disillusioned with them by 30, and ceased associating with them.
From his autobiography:
"Byrd...
haha. David. Dude, you are so transparent. Shining example of the nonsense from much of the right. Say something confidently enough and imbeciles will believe it. Don't do any actual research on what you're saying because, uh, well that may conflict with your narrative. Reality? Robert Byrd was a member of the KKK in his early 20's. He became disillusioned with them by 30, and ceased associating with them.
From his autobiography:
"Byrd explained that he was a KKK member because he "was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision— a jejune and immature outlook—seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions." Byrd also said in 2005, "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times...and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened."
I could care less about Robert Byrd. I'm sure he was a Grade A racist in his youth, and just a semi-biggoted old man in his later years. (Kinda hard to fully erase one's feelings after using the N word much of your life.)
So, a bit disingenuous to reference Biden's eulogy as that of a KKK leader. Would have been a bit more accurate to say "Biden eulogized a friend and colleague of 40 years who at one point, 50 years prior, was associated with the KKK, but who denounced the group repeatedly, and without hesitation, for nearly 40 years."
As for Biden's other gaffs, that fool was born with his foot in his mouth.
When was the last time the left had any grace for youthful indiscretions of conservatives or anyone who is not on the left? Answer: rarely. If they did, why do we see people often digging around for Tweets and other public statements from someone when they were a teenager or a college student? Usually left-wing double-standard and hypocrisy: what is good for us is not good for you.
True story. My dad (I’m 67) showed me his old notes from when he “interviewed” his mom. She and my grandfather were once in the KKK in Indiana. They left the KKK when she decided that they were ruining their perfectly good sheets.
The irony of saying all Republicans are "openly racist" and then commenting on honesty. Perspective.
This is what it looks like in real terms when you decide that identity is more important than aptitude in something critical like *being on television*.
What a stupid douche.
sounds like something that you would ban someone on a.net for saying
Oh, without a doubt. Hey ATC, how ya doin!
But people can be like sheep. They will ignore the obvious as long as they feel what they see or read is right, in their minds.
How's a-net been treating ya!
I'm not convinced there have been any more or less safety related issues than in the past. Are we seeing an uptick in Pilot and Controller safety reports?
What I am convinced of is that they're being reported on in the media more frequently. Maybe mass shootings and police brutality aren't holding the public's attention well enough anymore?
I recently saw a reel describing a "near miss" between Air Canada and Eva Air... except the...
I'm not convinced there have been any more or less safety related issues than in the past. Are we seeing an uptick in Pilot and Controller safety reports?
What I am convinced of is that they're being reported on in the media more frequently. Maybe mass shootings and police brutality aren't holding the public's attention well enough anymore?
I recently saw a reel describing a "near miss" between Air Canada and Eva Air... except the incident was clearly from 2016 and there was no loss of separation between them... the actual concern was the terrain with Eva. (Widely reported back then).
You can learn as much from Tucker as you can from that reel, since the intent is not to educate, but rather to get views/entertain.
Now you know how conservatives felt during the Trump administration, when every news outlet blamed Trump for everything that went wrong, including a global pandemic that did not originate here. Nevertheless, what happened under Trump's watch was deemed to be Trump's fault.
Turnabout is fair play. The Biden Administration needs to be accountable for all of these air safety issues, particularly as they appointed a small town mayor who had absolutely no qualifications to...
Now you know how conservatives felt during the Trump administration, when every news outlet blamed Trump for everything that went wrong, including a global pandemic that did not originate here. Nevertheless, what happened under Trump's watch was deemed to be Trump's fault.
Turnabout is fair play. The Biden Administration needs to be accountable for all of these air safety issues, particularly as they appointed a small town mayor who had absolutely no qualifications to lead the Transportation Department.
There has been minimal coverage of the disaster in Ohio, somehow I don't feel this would have been the case if a Republican was president.
Does Tucker get a little bombastic and sensationalistic? Absolutely. But so do people like Rachel Madow, Joy(less) Reid, the ladies on the View, etc.
Nobody blamed Trump for the pandemic. We did blame him for pretending covid was a political play, and probably costing lives in the process.
Trump was wrong just about every time he opened his mouth.
This fox reporting must appeal to people that have ever done research on any academic topic in their lives. Airline safety is one of these topics
You think the Ohio disaster would have been getting more play under a Republican president? Why? The only reason it's constantly on Fox News is so they can try and use it against Biden. The actual reason stuff like this train disaster happened is because of deregulation.
@David Remember both conservatives and liberals televised are being paid to pander to their base. Akin to a commercial do we,or should we bite?
In following the Ohio wreck, I believe you're premature to attach political blame.
The "standards" have not been lowered. The minimum requirements to get hired are what they are and controlled by the Govt. A diversity hire WILL get hired the moment they hit the minimums whereas a majority candidate will need years more experience and qualifications to be deemed competitive. The vast majority of new hires are white males - if you see another face in a class (female/minority) - the probability is that they have far...
The "standards" have not been lowered. The minimum requirements to get hired are what they are and controlled by the Govt. A diversity hire WILL get hired the moment they hit the minimums whereas a majority candidate will need years more experience and qualifications to be deemed competitive. The vast majority of new hires are white males - if you see another face in a class (female/minority) - the probability is that they have far less total experience but still meet "the minimum".
I work for a major airline in the training department. We are scraping the bottom of the barrel right now and forced to hire those that were "unhireable" a few years back in addition to pilots meeting the bare minimum. Our hands are also tied in the ability to hold back students that are underperforming. The final gatekeepers are the line check airmen/aviators/pilots and sim check airmen/aviators/pilots. Additionally - the lack of experience is apparent through the entire airline. Instructors are allowed to have ZERO hours in the airplane when they interview for the job. Training managers can be seen with fewer than 1500 hours at the airline and in the type aircraft they are managing.
While most that joint an airline are competent and take their training/performance seriously the challenge truly is with management. Nobody on the training management staff is asking their experts how to make training better - they are asking how can we make it cheaper and faster?
I'm confused by your claims. Are you saying that minority candidates get snapped up the moment they meet the minimum requirements, or are you saying that everyone is getting snapped up the moment they meet the minimum requirements ("We are scraping the bottom of the barrel right now and forced to hire those that were "unhireable" a few years back in addition to pilots meeting the bare minimum.). It can't be both.
I'm also confused.
While the government has always set a minimum legal requirement for pilots, most airlines used to hire above that, creating a much higher industry standard. If either for DEI or lack of skilled pilots, the airlines are no longer higher to their standard, then the standards have been lowered, even if those hires meet the legal requirement.
We can argue whether the legal minimums are actually effective or not, but...
I'm also confused.
While the government has always set a minimum legal requirement for pilots, most airlines used to hire above that, creating a much higher industry standard. If either for DEI or lack of skilled pilots, the airlines are no longer higher to their standard, then the standards have been lowered, even if those hires meet the legal requirement.
We can argue whether the legal minimums are actually effective or not, but the overall net effect is the industry standard is lower and a valid question is whether this is one of the causes of us hearing about so many incidents recently. Tucker went one step further in trying to implicate DEI as the sole cause which is where Lucky had issues.
It would surely seem that trying to dismiss a viewpoint that you don't agree with by highlighting it and the players that are "pushing it" simply accomplishes more people focusing it.
Fox News repeatedly trounces all other cable news sites in large part because they take a different approach than CNN, MSNBC etc that all say the same thing. Whether you agree w/ them or not, it is mind-boggling how they have been left...
It would surely seem that trying to dismiss a viewpoint that you don't agree with by highlighting it and the players that are "pushing it" simply accomplishes more people focusing it.
Fox News repeatedly trounces all other cable news sites in large part because they take a different approach than CNN, MSNBC etc that all say the same thing. Whether you agree w/ them or not, it is mind-boggling how they have been left alone to pursue a set of viewpoints that no one else seems interested in given that all of the media exists as for-profit entities. Everyone else is dividing their half of the US population - which is about equally opposite in their thinking while Fox News has the other half to themselves.
Tucker Carlson investigates enough to come up w/ a story and he has been factually right on many levels - but he falls under Fox News' commentator group, not their news group.
There is undoubtedly a certain amount of truth to what he is saying about aviation safety just as there is a piece of truth with what other media report.
People genuinely have reason to be concerned when they hear about repeated significant aviation safety incidents as well as train derailments and other transportation issues that people think (rightly or wrongly) should go smoothly.
Drawing conclusions about any of the recent incidents is incorrect because none of the official investigations are complete - but it should be clear that they were all due to different reasons.
Let Tucker do his thing and have his voice. If you don't like him, watch and talk about someone else or add your own opinions to the cacophony of opinions on the internet. If you get millions of your own readers, you too can get a TV slot to boot
Not sure what your issue is with Lucky expressing his opinion on his own blog. If you don’t like it don’t read it.
Why don’t you let Lucky have his voice on this issue?
Big of you to come on someone else's blog and tell them what to write.
(this is me rolling my eyes all the way back in my head for you)
you BOTH not only clearly either read or reply to what I wrote.
My first and primary point is to note the success of Fox News and Tucker Carlson who IS far more successful in terms of reach than ANY aviation blogger
Second, I noted that Tucker Carlson is part of the commentary and opinion offering at Fox News, not its core news function. Fox's parent, News Corp owns multiple media outlets including...
you BOTH not only clearly either read or reply to what I wrote.
My first and primary point is to note the success of Fox News and Tucker Carlson who IS far more successful in terms of reach than ANY aviation blogger
Second, I noted that Tucker Carlson is part of the commentary and opinion offering at Fox News, not its core news function. Fox's parent, News Corp owns multiple media outlets including the Wall Street Journal and all of them make clear what is opinion and what is news.
Everyone has an opinion.
Third, if you or I or anyone else want to label something as "untrue" we need to provide the facts to prove it. For example, one anonymous UA pilot says the crew on the UA Hawaii flight was low seniority and low time in the 777. That is either factually true or not. It doesn't take multiple sources to state the truth. If Ben would like to say that something is untrue, he needs to provide the truth - in this case whether the experience statement is accurate or not. It is no more or less credible of Tucker or Ben to use a single source for facts as it is not to verify them, no matter how many sources.
And, finally, what is "unhinged" anyway? I never said I have a problem w/ Ben's opinion but I do expect him and others to show respect for other people and their opinions if he respects that from others. It is not a matter of liking or believing Tucker or Ben - it is about the attitude of respectful public discourse which is lacking in western societies.
FAA leadership is testifying before Congress today because of the FAA's own operational computer failure along w/ the string of recent operational issues involving airlines. Because all of the airline incidents are under investigation, there is no conclusion. ALL of our opinions are just that - opinions.
The US form of government w/ oversight from multiple branches of government works when it is allowed to do so. The FAA and NTSB are responsible for aviation safety and Congress wants answers because the American people have legitimate concerns.
Go back and reread what I originally wrote and what I just said here and tell me how you ever came up with the conclusions you came to.
Somehow all the dogmatic Delta defending now makes all the more sense...
it's either fact or opinion. You can disagree w/ opinion but do it respectfully or it's fact and can be proven right or wrong.
Doesn't matter what the subject is.
I don't get what purpose the "primary point" serves, and how it is relevant.
It comes across like you're appealing to authority, as though Tuckers success/viewership gives him inherent credibility.
"Unhinged" is pretty simple in my book. Most people would investigate a story, and perhaps they would conclude that wokeness was the problem. Tucker goes into investigations like this having concluded that wokeness is the problem, and then figuring out how to apply that...
I don't get what purpose the "primary point" serves, and how it is relevant.
It comes across like you're appealing to authority, as though Tuckers success/viewership gives him inherent credibility.
"Unhinged" is pretty simple in my book. Most people would investigate a story, and perhaps they would conclude that wokeness was the problem. Tucker goes into investigations like this having concluded that wokeness is the problem, and then figuring out how to apply that conclusion to the story.
Exactly what other "truth" could anyone have expected from him? He wouldn't have reported on it if he couldn't have tied them together.
And don't get me wrong, I think we should always retain that fundamental freedom to be bigoted pigs, I just don't see how Ben's counterpoint/counter opinion is an affront to "Let(ing) Tucker do his thing and hav(ing) his voice".
The title of the article is precisely counter to being willing to accept someone else's diverse point of view.
Intelligent, socialized people do not criticize people or their opinions just because they don't agree with them, no matter how much other people do it.
The fact that you can't see the problem demonstrates that you are part of the problem.
The topic is not the problem. the problem is how it is dealt with
"Intelligent, socialized people do not criticize people or their opinions just because they don't agree with them, no matter how much other people do it."
Say what? If someone is of the opinion that different races/genders/sexual orientations are inherently inferior to another, and should be shot, I will let loose all the critique of them in the world.
But to your credit, if we were to apply your premise, I guess that rules Tucker out as "intellegent"
Ben, you're great but your bias is evident in this post. Tucker accurately states there's been a flurry of near-misses lately and postulates that the woke hiring and training practices of the feds and airlines is a major contributing factor. Logically, reduced standards in hiring and training would make sense as a cause here. Let's look at your rebuttals:
1. Lots of new hires lately.
This seems to be your central argument. Agreed, there's a...
Ben, you're great but your bias is evident in this post. Tucker accurately states there's been a flurry of near-misses lately and postulates that the woke hiring and training practices of the feds and airlines is a major contributing factor. Logically, reduced standards in hiring and training would make sense as a cause here. Let's look at your rebuttals:
1. Lots of new hires lately.
This seems to be your central argument. Agreed, there's a hiring boom, but this doesn't mean woke policies favoring Title 7 protected classes is not in play here. If anything, it would amplify the effect. There have been several hiring booms throughout aviation history, but has that ever been deemed as the major cause of any aviation safety incident by the NTSB? "Newness" is the single attributable cause to the problems at hand, to the exclusion of reduced standards. does not make sense. Airline pilots are by definition not "new." There's a boat load of training occurring before any pilot mans the controls of an airliner. Their first day flying a revenue flight for an airline is not like the first day working at Subway. My point is with all the training and testing, it's a stretch to call these pilots "new." The biggest issue is that the people in charge of enforcing hiring and/or flight training standards seem not to be so strict about enforcing requirements with certain types of people (Title 7 protected classes). Don't believe me? Read NTSB's report on Atlas Air 3591 crash outside of Houston a few years back. That's about as close to a smoking gun as it gets for this sort of stuff.
-Standards haven't been relaxed because of the 1500 hour rule
Surely you jest. The 1500 hour rule was a legislative reaction to the Colgan Air crash to make it look like they were "doing something." It's widely agreed it has little to no relation to aviation safety. Why? Just look at the rule. It's 1500 "flight hours". No other conditions like, X hours in a twin engine, X hours instrument flying, X landings, etc. You can satisfy every hour of this rule by hanging out in the right seat of a Cessna 172 as a practical passenger while your instructor shuttles you around in perfect weather. Simply put, there is no qualitative aspect to the 1500 hour rule.
-United has its own flight academy with admitted diversity quotas, but none of those pilots have graduated yet.
This is actually an argument in support of Tucker's. Do you honestly think an Airline like United would go through the time, trouble, and expense of operating its own, wholly-owned, ab initio flight school and openly brag about its enforcement of race quotas for that school if United's end goal was not to substantially impact the racial mix of its pilots in the "right" direction? Do you think we are to view the flight school as a one-off thing which is not indicative of United's overall goals for its pilots as a company?
-Anonymously sourced and not correct.
Yes, it is an anonymous source. Sadly this is the norm for pretty much all reporting today, regardless of the import of the subject matter. Agreed you can't just take any news at its word anymore. You have to carefully evaluate and analyze what's being reported and reach your own conclusion regardless which side of the political fence you are on. To me, the anonymous pilot's story checks out because it makes sense coupled with United's own public statements and actions (including what you've referenced), it sounds similar to the NTSB report of Atlas Air 3591, and it contextually makes sense as to why something that used to be so safe is now increasingly dangerous. It has to be a fairly new phenomenon/cause. Woke hiring and training fits the bill. As far as your assertion that anything stated by the pilot is not correct, you'll have to specify exactly what that is and why you believe that. As of now, you've just dismissed it out of hand without discussion. I can't respond to what you won't say.
My thoughts are this is a real issue and there needs to be a discussion about it.
“Woke!”
Drink!
@Lars... big picture, however, is that all your argument is rendered somewhat moot (or at the least not worth the airtime it's getting) when the number of flight safety incidents and deaths is at/near historical lows. Look it up
We’ve come close to a tragedy on level of Tenerife on multiple occasions recently. This is not normal.
Yes, safety has been overall excellent lately when measured by pax deaths. The concern is that recent events provide cause to believe that we may be at an inflection point. There’s typically lag time between when safety culture erodes and when the natural result of said erosion occurs. During that lag time, the increased danger often...
We’ve come close to a tragedy on level of Tenerife on multiple occasions recently. This is not normal.
Yes, safety has been overall excellent lately when measured by pax deaths. The concern is that recent events provide cause to believe that we may be at an inflection point. There’s typically lag time between when safety culture erodes and when the natural result of said erosion occurs. During that lag time, the increased danger often isn’t perceived. My fear is we’re already in that lag time and no one wants to acknowledge it or at least consider it. I would love to be wrong.
"Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the name of equity; this is fake news, and the same 1,500-hour minimum still applies, as before, though some airlines have lowered the hours they require above and beyond that, due to the general pilot shortage (that comes down to supply and demand)"
This refutes and confirms Carlson's claim in the same sentence. Carlson claims airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards, not the FAA. The...
"Carlson claims that airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards in the name of equity; this is fake news, and the same 1,500-hour minimum still applies, as before, though some airlines have lowered the hours they require above and beyond that, due to the general pilot shortage (that comes down to supply and demand)"
This refutes and confirms Carlson's claim in the same sentence. Carlson claims airlines have drastically reduced hiring standards, not the FAA. The FAA requires 1,500hrs and airlines, historically, have often hired above that. Now they're hiring right at that number, often to meet hiring objectives.
There are many arrows being thrown around these days. Let's all try our best to not be one of them. Points & Travel is what we all love, let's not ruin it by a divisive post and comments.
Carlson claims that airlines have reduced their standards *for equity reasons*, which Ben correctly identifies as false. The fact that airlines have lowered their additional training standards *for other reasons* does not mean that Carlson's claim is true.
It is NOT false the United CEO said it himself.
United and Frontier are now starting programs that will hire ZERO HOUR persons to be trained as pilots in what F9 calls "Cadets" taking them to the 1500 hour threshold. Trainer have reported many of these hire are JUST NOT QUALIFIED yet they are told to "Make it Work".
This bipasses the system that has worked for 100 years of person wanting to be pilots...
It is NOT false the United CEO said it himself.
United and Frontier are now starting programs that will hire ZERO HOUR persons to be trained as pilots in what F9 calls "Cadets" taking them to the 1500 hour threshold. Trainer have reported many of these hire are JUST NOT QUALIFIED yet they are told to "Make it Work".
This bipasses the system that has worked for 100 years of person wanting to be pilots BUSTING their rear and proving they want it lonnnngggg before a paycheck showed up.
Actually, Tucker is right on this one.
How do losser
Actually, no
Agree, he is
We have the right to know if the pilots involved in these incidents were diversity hires. Hiring based on an applicant's skin color instead of aeronautical skills is sure to lead to disasters or near disasters like these ones.
Good lord, Ms. DeSantis, you really need to calm down.
So it should be easily verifiable, so is it true? “the captain of the Maui flight was brand new,” and “there was a new-hire first officer,” If so, isn't that really the point of Tucker's position? I mean how does a modern triple 7 aircraft without a mechanical failure experience such an event without an egregious pilot error? Regardless of political affiliation, it simply isn't an event that should occur in modern aviation.
Maybe you should go over to OMAAT's post on that incident, in which it becomes pretty clear that the most reasonable explanation (at this point) has nothing to do with pilot error and everything to do with wind shear from the massive storm the plane was flying through.
And you are wrong that events like this don't occur in "modern aviation". Wind shear is quite common.
If it was indeed WS ... do you honestly think the 2 pilots would be sent back to school for re-training?
Rah, did the pilots handle the wind shear sufficiently well in the eyes of those evaluating their performance?
Weather was soley the case why is it being reported that United "retrained" both flight crew by several major news sources? There have been a number of claims that an improperly configured autopilot could have caused the initial dive.
@snic: It's also detectable (voice alarm) and correctable in the cockpit without dropping 1,500 ft. The days of the UA 737 in Colorado Springs and of the Delta Tristar in Dallas are long gone.
All this is the kind of dicussion on which nobody will agree or is "right" or "wrong" (but "right" or "left", yes). The future will tell whether Carlson has been right or wrong: The near-misses and incidents reported have so far...
@snic: It's also detectable (voice alarm) and correctable in the cockpit without dropping 1,500 ft. The days of the UA 737 in Colorado Springs and of the Delta Tristar in Dallas are long gone.
All this is the kind of dicussion on which nobody will agree or is "right" or "wrong" (but "right" or "left", yes). The future will tell whether Carlson has been right or wrong: The near-misses and incidents reported have so far ended well. Hopefully, nothing worse will happen.
Please don't give any additional bit of visibility to traitors, liars, and scumbags.
And his large audience proves why we became a nation of imbeciles.
Tucker Carlson is America's biggest joke and idiot who knows NOTHING but lies and deceit!!!
What is this animal talking about?? The incident at Houston??!!#. It was Austin. Captain with no experience??? They had a ttl 25000 hrs combined!! You are entitled to your own opinions of course, but NEVER to your own or “personal “ facts. Period, full stop. #boycottfoxnews
Problem is that Tucker has always felt entitled to his own facts. Somehow he's allowed to get away with it because his show isn't "news", it's "opinion". Apparently on an "opinion" show you get to lie repeatedly without consequences.
So true, sooo sad!!!
Ii think he was referring to the Prime Air crash at Houston.
Tucker was citing a situation which evidently happened at Houston in which a UAL went around at 600 feet after a plane entered the runway.
With literally no other information, this example serves no purpose but to fear monger, since you can make absolutely no conclusions about it.
If you're talking about the Honolulu flight what matters is not total flight hours but the hours flown in that particular type of plane.
The Atlas crash. KIAH. Not KAUS. He is spot on.
One thing that's hard to deny: Mayor Pete is an incompetent Transportation Secretary and has done little to nothing to address a variety of problems that have come up. And this is what happens when you hire people based on their "protected status" (LGBTetc, race, etc) rather than their qualifications. And Buttigieg is truly incompetent at his present job, a position he is completely unqualified to conduct. Yes, Biden and his handlers own that, as...
One thing that's hard to deny: Mayor Pete is an incompetent Transportation Secretary and has done little to nothing to address a variety of problems that have come up. And this is what happens when you hire people based on their "protected status" (LGBTetc, race, etc) rather than their qualifications. And Buttigieg is truly incompetent at his present job, a position he is completely unqualified to conduct. Yes, Biden and his handlers own that, as it's been their MO since day one. This isn't to say that his incompetence causd someting like that UA close call in HI (it didn't), but it has led to a lack of preparedness and a malaise in the DOT.
you've made an assertion without providing any evidence to support your claims. Please provide evidence to explain your position or I'll simply discount it.
The real question is has Tucker Carlson ever been honest? I can't believe people actually watch this clown.
For concerns about "diversity" hires who can't perform their job properly, one only need to look as far as the Secretary of Transportation.
Makes as much sense as getting your daughter and son in law to negotiate peace in the Middle East.
I'm not a fan of Trump's but you bring up a weird counter example given that he brokered a groundbreaking peace treaty in the Middle East.
@Pete: Except that they succeeded.
Buttigieg wasn’t given the job for LGBTQ reasons anymore than Ben Carson was named Secretary of HUD because he was black (well maybe in Trump’s mind, but not for “woke” reasons). They were given the jobs mostly as a reward for dropping out in the primary when they did and endorsing Biden or Trump, respectively. Cabinet level positions are often given out for political reasons more than actual qualifications (I mean Buttigieg’s predecessor was married...
Buttigieg wasn’t given the job for LGBTQ reasons anymore than Ben Carson was named Secretary of HUD because he was black (well maybe in Trump’s mind, but not for “woke” reasons). They were given the jobs mostly as a reward for dropping out in the primary when they did and endorsing Biden or Trump, respectively. Cabinet level positions are often given out for political reasons more than actual qualifications (I mean Buttigieg’s predecessor was married to Mitch McConnell), but that’s been done by both parties for centuries now, it’s not a new thing.
Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson drew an audience of 3.473 million viewers last week, making Tucker Carlson Tonight the highest-rated show in cable news for the week ending February 12, 2023. Carlson’s show also delivered 490,000 viewers 25-54, the demographic group most valued by national advertisers.
Hitler and Mussolini could both draw large audiences as well. Your point?
Hahaha @zim - Great point!!
Hitler and Mussolini drew large audiences at the "point" of a gun. The point is that free people elect to be drawn to his show. Woke doesn't ask questions, just continue to make accusations at those that disagree.
No, the actual point is that ratings aren't really relevant. Cbchicago seems to be attempting the logical fallacy of appealing to authority, as opposed to discussing the topic at hand.
Also, Hitler rose to power because free people elected to go along with him. Indeed by the end of it you wouldn't have had a choice, but it didn't start like that.
What's worse: woke doesn't ask questions, or conservatives never stopping asking questions...
No, the actual point is that ratings aren't really relevant. Cbchicago seems to be attempting the logical fallacy of appealing to authority, as opposed to discussing the topic at hand.
Also, Hitler rose to power because free people elected to go along with him. Indeed by the end of it you wouldn't have had a choice, but it didn't start like that.
What's worse: woke doesn't ask questions, or conservatives never stopping asking questions as a way to deflect the answers?
It’s Tucker Carlson so I’m truly not surprised here, anything to score points on the culture war battlefield.
This is after all the same Tucker who got outraged because M&Ms weren’t “sexy” anymore.
Can you imagine being outraged over candy….
Tucker sounds exactly like CCP and Russia's crap.
Stop parroting the Biden Administration please.
@John L - you apparently are too ignorant to realize Russian State TV just loooooves to quote Cucker Tarlson positively all the time
Yeah, because communists are known for being such small-government conservatives. Really a dumb take on your part, Ethan.
@stogieguy7 - try reading comp much? Ethan's point is that he is totalitarian.
And Ethan would be wrong.
Tuckers BFF Victor Orban would beg to differ.
Tucker isn’t even that “small government.” He’s much more of a populist/nationalist than anything else and often advocates for government interventions in all areas of life a la Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Orbán’s government may be socially and somewhat economically conservative, but it’s certainly not what you would call “small government.” The government in Hungary has infiltrated every aspect of Hungarian life, from the media, to schools, to corporations, to the point that if you...
Tucker isn’t even that “small government.” He’s much more of a populist/nationalist than anything else and often advocates for government interventions in all areas of life a la Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Orbán’s government may be socially and somewhat economically conservative, but it’s certainly not what you would call “small government.” The government in Hungary has infiltrated every aspect of Hungarian life, from the media, to schools, to corporations, to the point that if you aren’t on board at least tacitly, your job prospects will be severely diminished.
Is either country even close to being communist? Russia doesn’t even pretend. Does Fox News even make the claim? If so, wow.
After all of these reports/blogs/articles, I'm still waiting for someone to show data that there have actually been a big increase in incidents, and it's not just that we're hearing more about them now.
Re your comment on there being more safety incidents, there was an NBC article a day or so back that reviewed the stats and determined that there were no more safety incidents now than the historical average in the past (can't recall if excluded pandemic or not)
I'm starting to think Gary's logic could apply to the broader labor shortage as well. A lot of baby boomers were convinced in 2020 that the world was never going to be the same way again, were offered early retirement, and took it.
A lot of the most experienced people left at once. As a result, it feels like nothing works right anymore, including airlines.
Tucker is full of crap as usual, so don't waste your breath feeding the troll.
That said, air safety in the US is definitely no longer what it used to be. The FAA was discredited over the 737 Max oversight, the NTSB is ignored by labour unions, counterproductive legislation like the 1500-hr rule forces experienced banner-towers into jet airliner cockpits, and CRM in the cockpits at US airlines is straining to breaking point under the...
Tucker is full of crap as usual, so don't waste your breath feeding the troll.
That said, air safety in the US is definitely no longer what it used to be. The FAA was discredited over the 737 Max oversight, the NTSB is ignored by labour unions, counterproductive legislation like the 1500-hr rule forces experienced banner-towers into jet airliner cockpits, and CRM in the cockpits at US airlines is straining to breaking point under the same social and political tensions that divide the entire country.
It is a matter of "WHEN" the next major disaster happens, and not "IF". Sadly, that will probably lead to more counterproductive knee-jerk responses.
The US is losing (or may already have lost) the global moral leadership in the field of air safety. That is not an easily reversible process. Tucker typically draws some of the right conclusions, but for the completely wrong reasons!
Tucker Carlson speaks to a small (and getting smaller) slice of America that thrives on disinformation, racism, gun culture, religious bigotry and hatred masquerading as "evangelical" Christianity. Why give this more oxygen than needed? Seriously. if Tucker Carlson and his following hate America as much as they do, they really should move to Hungary, Russia, or Belarus. They will find good company.
a small slice of America . . .
I would go further then that, limit it all to USA only!
He's just a small, bigmouth Guy, trying to get attention.
So let him talk, but as most here might know or hopefully do know, REAL reporting and fact REAL gospel truth looks very different.
Those who want to be picked up by BS like his stuff, will always find a positive...
a small slice of America . . .
I would go further then that, limit it all to USA only!
He's just a small, bigmouth Guy, trying to get attention.
So let him talk, but as most here might know or hopefully do know, REAL reporting and fact REAL gospel truth looks very different.
Those who want to be picked up by BS like his stuff, will always find a positive thing in whatever he says, to the US TV audience. Glad America is by far more then just the US. . . . That guy could possibly be in real danger, spreading stupid things, being told by a friends friend! ;-)
Spoken like a true democrat - esp after the advent of the twitter files exposing how the lefties were in bed with big tech.
In other words - think before you speak and stop parroting what the media tells you to say
@John L - did you watch ANY of the hearings on Twitter??? If anything, they were trying desperately to placate Trump and the MAGA Republicans.
Is it a slice of America that's getting smaller? One gets the feeling outside the US that Carlson- or Trump-style misinformation is popular with huge swathes of the American public.
Really? Do your research, FOX NEWS is watched more than all the other woke networks combined
Oh, a very interesting point about internal tensions between pilots due to political differences.
One suggested answer would no doubt be "have them all from the same background" which is wrong.
CRM is largely about giving voice to diversity of observation and initial opinion in order to reach a correct conclusion.
Perhaps the airlines should look to the US army (I think it has done better than the Navy or Air Force) for...
Oh, a very interesting point about internal tensions between pilots due to political differences.
One suggested answer would no doubt be "have them all from the same background" which is wrong.
CRM is largely about giving voice to diversity of observation and initial opinion in order to reach a correct conclusion.
Perhaps the airlines should look to the US army (I think it has done better than the Navy or Air Force) for some ideas about how to get everyone to focus on what matters despite different backgrounds and opinions outside the job.
I notice that all three identified executives at the American Airlines union are ex military - is that healthy.
You call it fake news, and then confirm the news in the same sentence. The claim (from what you describe) wasn't that the government has lowered standards, but that the airlines have lowered the standards, which you concede immedietly. You yourself speculated recently that these close calls as of late could be due to inexperience in the cockpit or the tower, so really not sure how Tucker's take is different.
It's also ridiculous for you...
You call it fake news, and then confirm the news in the same sentence. The claim (from what you describe) wasn't that the government has lowered standards, but that the airlines have lowered the standards, which you concede immedietly. You yourself speculated recently that these close calls as of late could be due to inexperience in the cockpit or the tower, so really not sure how Tucker's take is different.
It's also ridiculous for you (someone who has never worked for a large corporation) to speak to how these companies operate from an internal standpoint. Diveristy, equity, etc are pushed to a high degree now, and whether there are safety implications due to these practices should be conversation that isn't just shut down as fake news because it isn't a convenient narrative.
Also, welcome to the world of "unnamed sources". Can we all agree that the notion of unnamed sources is ridiculous? This is widely seen from all "journalists" especially those in the mainstream.
Nowhere in the article does Ben claim that the airlines have lowered their standards. He states that the level of pilot experience has dropped because of a large number of retirements during the pandemic. That's it. That does not *at all* mean that airlines have lowered their training or safety standards.
"Diveristy, equity, etc are pushed to a high degree now, and whether there are safety implications due to these practices should be conversation that...
Nowhere in the article does Ben claim that the airlines have lowered their standards. He states that the level of pilot experience has dropped because of a large number of retirements during the pandemic. That's it. That does not *at all* mean that airlines have lowered their training or safety standards.
"Diveristy, equity, etc are pushed to a high degree now, and whether there are safety implications due to these practices should be conversation that isn't just shut down as fake news because it isn't a convenient narrative."
Yes, it should be shut down, because it's ridiculous. No one is hiring someone who failed aviation school just because of the color of their skin. All you have to do is look to medicine to discover how absurd your racist little worry is. Doctors and nurses come from all over the place nowadays, and there is no evidence to suggest that those from minority backgrounds are any less competent. Why would that be the case for pilots, who also receive a great deal of training before being entrusted with people's lives?
When did I even begin to say that people of “diverse” backgrounds aren’t as competent?
My point was that corporations are spending exorbitant amounts of money/resources on diversity and equity related ventures. Money and resources that was previously directed elsewhere (possibly related to safety and training). The fact you shut this conversation down so abruptly just proves the point that you’re only interested in pushing a narrative.
Just because Tucker asserts that corporations are lowering their standards because of diversity (“this is what it looks like in real terms when you decide that identity is more important than aptitude in something critical like aviation”) doesn't mean it's true, nor does it mean we need to have "a conversation" about it. Give me some evidence that diversity efforts reduce safety and there would be a basis for a conversation. In the absence of...
Just because Tucker asserts that corporations are lowering their standards because of diversity (“this is what it looks like in real terms when you decide that identity is more important than aptitude in something critical like aviation”) doesn't mean it's true, nor does it mean we need to have "a conversation" about it. Give me some evidence that diversity efforts reduce safety and there would be a basis for a conversation. In the absence of that, it's just someone's (yours) baseless worry. It would make just as much sense to waste time discussing someone's worry that the flying spaghetti monster will one day eat us all alive.
LOL! When you prioritize diversity over that of paper qualifications, safety WILL be affected. It’s a simple fact. I know it isn’t convenient for your narrative, but a fact is a fact.
Literally in the post:
“some airlines have lowered the hours they require”.
Maybe read the post before commenting.
Best to stay out of politics. We have enough of that mess on CNN and the mainstream media!