FAA Firing Two Air Traffic Controllers For Leaving Early Night Of Deadly LaGuardia Air Canada Accident

FAA Firing Two Air Traffic Controllers For Leaving Early Night Of Deadly LaGuardia Air Canada Accident

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In March 2026, we saw an Air Canada Jazz CRJ-900 collide with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA), claiming the lives of two pilots, and injuring dozens of others.

Aviation is incredibly safe, and this is one of those cases where the “Swiss cheese model” for avoiding aviation catastrophes failed. The air traffic controller on duty was dealing with another emergency, and then accidentally cleared the fire truck onto the runway while the Air Canada jet was landing. That being said, the runway warning lights were flashing, and should’ve prevented the truck from entering the runway.

We’re now learning about another potential contributing cause, which might explain why the air traffic controller was so overworked…

Two ATC left work an hour early, right before the crash

The Wall Street Journal is now reporting another unfortunate twist in this Air Canada crash story. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that two air traffic controllers at LaGuardia left work around an hour early the night of the plane crash, and the agency is now moving to fire those two controllers.

Because they left early, there were only two air traffic controllers working that night in the tower, who didn’t have backup to assist with high workloads. The airport was reportedly seeing twice the usual volume of traffic the night of the accident.

What’s interesting is that the story talks about how leaving early is called an “early shove,” but according to current and former controllers, it’s a longstanding practice in the industry, yet FAA officials consider it to be a form of timecard fraud.

Here’s what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had to say about the decision to take action against the two air traffic controllers:

“The vast majority of air traffic controllers are great patriots — they show up for work, complete their full shift, and come back and do it all again. But when a small percentage of individuals take advantage of the American taxpayer, unfairly add additional work to their fellow controllers, and impact the airspace — we have no choice but to act. We will not tolerate fraud, and we are taking appropriate action to hold folks accountable and prevent unlawful practices from disrupting the traveling public.”

Air traffic controllers consistently leave early, but it’s fraud?!

It’s a bit confusing to hear how air traffic controllers pretty consistently leave earlier than the end of their shift, it’s seemingly tolerated by managers, and it’s also a form of fraud. So what exactly is going on here?

Well, current and former air traffic controllers say that managers have condoned them leaving their shifts before they officially end, and it has been seen as an informal perk after busy stretches of working, especially given how much overtime everyone is working nowadays, due to staffing shortages.

The Trump administration is reportedly trying to signal an aggressive response to this, in the form of firing controllers. The FAA has this year reportedly taken steps to fire more than 10 controllers for alleged timecard fraud or abuse of leave policies.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association claims it’s discussing timecard and leave fraud allegations with FAA leadership:

“What should not be ignored is the extraordinary dedication of the thousands of air-traffic controllers who report to work every day, often under extremely challenging staffing conditions, and remain focused on keeping the flying public safe.” 

This whole situation is a bit of a head scratcher. So air traffic control is consistently understaffed and they’re working overtime, yet they also have a practice where they consistently leave early and commit timecard fraud? And it’s done on a widespread basis, and now the FAA is starting to crack down by firing a small number of people who have done it?

I don’t blame them for trying to figure this out, because the system in place where this consistently happens seems like a problem. But still…

Bottom line

In March 2026, an Air Canada plane and a fire truck collided on a LaGuardia Airport runway. Air traffic control was short staffed at the time, as the controller managing the runways was dealing with another emergency.

The FAA has now determined that two air traffic controllers left early that night, by around an hour, which is a form of timecard fraud. What’s interesting is that this is apparently a totally standard practice among air traffic controllers, even if it’s not allowed. The FAA is now trying to fire these controllers, and prove a point about how this practice has to stop.

What do you make of this ATC detail regarding the LaGuardia crash?

Conversations (76)
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  1. John Guest

    Sometimes common sense needs to be used despite whatever electronic "safety measures" may exist.

    For example: If I'm sitting at an intersection in my car and waiting at a red light, I'll always look left and right before moving forward when the light turns green. You never know when somebody in the opposing traffic will try to run a light. I'd much rather be alive then "right".

  2. isaacC Diamond

    Regardless of the worker / labour procedures that may or may not have been followed.  The core fact that the system is still antiquated.  Nav Canada has been doing it electronically for decades; yet still have paper strips in US towers.  All communication via radio is limited in Canada to texting and communication that is faster and more clear/effective.  
    FAA needs to upgrade...stop trying to recreate the wheel and just implement what the rest...

    Regardless of the worker / labour procedures that may or may not have been followed.  The core fact that the system is still antiquated.  Nav Canada has been doing it electronically for decades; yet still have paper strips in US towers.  All communication via radio is limited in Canada to texting and communication that is faster and more clear/effective.  
    FAA needs to upgrade...stop trying to recreate the wheel and just implement what the rest of the world already has.....ironically...the uniion is pushing back against the more use of technology and centralized towers due to.....preserving jobs.....

  3. Spoonful Guest

    More propaganda fed by the 2025 project regime. Blame the overworked public servant, and intimidate the once proud union into a corner.

  4. Grant McHerron Guest

    I suspect these two will be the scapegoats so FAA can be seen to be doing "something" while the underlying root causes remain (over worked ATC staff, too many movements at airports, etc). Interesting that they're talking about firing when the NTSB haven't completed their analysis.

  5. Florida sunshine Guest

    Oh and a note below about Amazon. In fulfillment and distribution centers, it has 2 shifts at 10.5 hours / 10 paid ( 4 days week ) and peak times 11.5 hours / 11 paid ( 5 days and fired even if your in hospital and don’t show ). So cry me a river. Do your job. Or find another.

    Or become your own boss

    1. Frank Guest

      Former Air Traffic controller in both of the Eastern Region Centers. There's quite a bit more to this situation than two controllers left an hour early. The WSJ doesn't describe the shift, next shift, whether or not they were held over 2 hours, was it a supervisor or CIC (controller in charge) in charge of the operation (which I believe it was based on the time of day) or did they leave the airport or...

      Former Air Traffic controller in both of the Eastern Region Centers. There's quite a bit more to this situation than two controllers left an hour early. The WSJ doesn't describe the shift, next shift, whether or not they were held over 2 hours, was it a supervisor or CIC (controller in charge) in charge of the operation (which I believe it was based on the time of day) or did they leave the airport or were they in the terminal.
      In my time, sign in/out timecards went from hand written to electronic. The employee, supervisors and CICs have access to an employees record. Unless it has changed in the 14 years since I retired, signing out could not occur until 15 minutes prior to the end of the shift. Someone needed to manually input the sign out time.

    2. 1990_ Diamond

      Tone deaf, false equivalency, and horrible career advice. If an Amazon packer makes a mistake, a box gets delayed. If an air traffic controller is exhausted or a system fails, hundreds of people die.

  6. globetrotter Guest

    In all unionized white collar professions, the blame is placed squarely on the unions. They refuse to increase their membership quota to meet market demand because they want their members to enjoy high earnings and compensation from businesses. Namely the AMA does not admit more qualified medical candidates to their fields and internship programs. Increase membership quota does not necessarily dilute the quality of its members. Americans chastise the government for too much interference and...

    In all unionized white collar professions, the blame is placed squarely on the unions. They refuse to increase their membership quota to meet market demand because they want their members to enjoy high earnings and compensation from businesses. Namely the AMA does not admit more qualified medical candidates to their fields and internship programs. Increase membership quota does not necessarily dilute the quality of its members. Americans chastise the government for too much interference and too many regulations then vilify it when things go hay-wired. The government only responds to crises when the death quota exceeds the tolerance level. We continue to vote in clowns to run the governments and the world since the 1980s. Decades ago, our Fortune 500 companies were respected for building great things in life. We now cannot build modern infrastructure such as high speed railways that developing countries leave us behind. We only have resources to spend on warfare that magnifies the deaths and destruction in developing countries. We should not blame the traffic controllers for leaving early at management's approval because when it was late into the night and things slowed down, all businesses tend to send employees home early to cut cost or to reward employees for a long hard work day.
    Off topic but in response to another reader, the link below provides an excellent "food for thought" that covers many famous events in our country that officially offer no conclusive results or down right concocted deception, courtesy of the US government.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxGGGtMQxY4

    1. 1990_ Diamond

      globetrotter, that's quite the laundry list, from the American Medical Association to high-speed rail. I doubt all those grievances are really necessary, here. You're right in-part that late-shift departures happen everywhere and many governments seem to only react after a crisis, but scapegoating organized labor won't fix this (that'll just hurt workers, more broadly). The tragedy was the result of systemic understaffing and a lack of safety tech like ground transponders. We can and should...

      globetrotter, that's quite the laundry list, from the American Medical Association to high-speed rail. I doubt all those grievances are really necessary, here. You're right in-part that late-shift departures happen everywhere and many governments seem to only react after a crisis, but scapegoating organized labor won't fix this (that'll just hurt workers, more broadly). The tragedy was the result of systemic understaffing and a lack of safety tech like ground transponders. We can and should fix those specific issues so that this won't happen again. We don't need to solve world peace to do that.

  7. Bb Guest

    @lucky not sure if you heard about the tragedy at Montreal where a ground worker was struck and killed by a plane backing up. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/airport-montreal-accident-9.7319215

  8. Eric Guest

    It's not okay but I can see how the culture develops.

    At 10:00 pm 4 controllers handle 1000 movements an hour (250 per hour per controller). At midnight 4 controllers handle 400 movements and hours (100 per hour per controller). Likely the FAA HR staffing/shifts infrastructure aren't flexible enough to officially send them home early and the controllers are already vastly overworked with mandatory overtime... when things quiet down I can see why they would...

    It's not okay but I can see how the culture develops.

    At 10:00 pm 4 controllers handle 1000 movements an hour (250 per hour per controller). At midnight 4 controllers handle 400 movements and hours (100 per hour per controller). Likely the FAA HR staffing/shifts infrastructure aren't flexible enough to officially send them home early and the controllers are already vastly overworked with mandatory overtime... when things quiet down I can see why they would seek to help each other out in this way.

    Has the FAA previously been clear that the early departure would not be tolerated?

  9. rando Guest

    And we are still not talking about the complete indecisiveness and ensuing mayhem caused by the UA captain after 2 aborted takeoffs that triggered everything (and occupied 30 minutes of radio garbage on TWR / GND frequencies before the crash).

    The audio of the captain..... completely indecisive, constant waffling on the situation, "their world and everyone else lives in it" attitude.... im sorry THAT person needs more scrutiny than ATC.

    1. FlyerDon Guest

      I agree 100%. Throwing the “E” word out there simply because he was frustrated is not acceptable. Though unintended, it started the chain of events.

  10. betterbub Diamond

    yet another example of the government attempting to frame a systematic error that would take effort to fix as a single incident that can be blamed on just a few people

    1. 1990_ Diamond

      Let's be real—this story isn't on the public's radar anymore. Only av-geeks and industry folks are still tracking a niche FAA timecard debate. If people are missing the Epstein files, it's because of things like the messy attack on Iran and a teetering economy.

    2. TravelinWilly Diamond

      Gotta' disagree.

      There's an entire constellation of events that have distracted the public from the Epstein files, and it's a deluge, not a trickle. Iran war-that's-not-a-war, insider trading by the fat orange Nazi and his family and cronies, threats to tear down the Kennedy Center if he can't have his name on it, and the list grows longer every day he's playing "president."

      And guess what. This story is back on the public's radar because of the pending firings.

    3. Eskimo Guest

      Willy has mistakenly assume all those events are to distract the Epstein files.

      You gave the clown too much credit.

      If he released the Epstein files, people would just say he's distracting the public from Iran war.

      He's just wreaking havoc everywhere. If you cause enough problems, each and all would collectively distract everything and each other.

      Now stick to the topic.

    4. 1990_ Diamond

      Yeah, I'm leaning with Eskimo on this. *gasp* It's chaos theory, not a well-coordinated psy-op. Either way, firing these two controllers on a technicality doesn't fix the ATC system. They need better equipment (including transponders) and more hiring, training, support.

  11. Dan Guest

    Two Canadian Pilots are still dead. Phrase it any way you want. The comments continue to fight the Democrats vs Republicans civil war. How do you think the families feel? How do the two controllers feel knowing that if they had stayed around the pilots might still be alive? People around the world are dying while Americans fight over money and power.

    1. 1990_ Diamond

      The pilots (Captain Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther) were indeed heroic. Their selfless final actions saved those passengers and the flight attendants lives. No one should minimize that human cost. If we want to honor them, we should invest in the infrastructure and people that can ensure this hopefully never happens anywhere ever again, such as mandating transponders on all ground vehicles and actually staffing (hiring, training, paying, all the above.) our towers...

      The pilots (Captain Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther) were indeed heroic. Their selfless final actions saved those passengers and the flight attendants lives. No one should minimize that human cost. If we want to honor them, we should invest in the infrastructure and people that can ensure this hopefully never happens anywhere ever again, such as mandating transponders on all ground vehicles and actually staffing (hiring, training, paying, all the above.) our towers properly so safety doesn't rely on luck. (Everything else is deflection, distraction.)

    2. Eskimo Guest

      If you really want to honor them 1990_, then they should be removed from the cockpit, along side ATC forever.

      Let no more human lives lost in commercial aviation to human error ever again.

    3. 1990_ Diamond

      Oh, Eskimo. If my 'hill to die on' is an EU261 equivalent in the US, I presume, this is yours (robots/computers, not people as pilots/ATC). Relatedly, I've been following the World Humanoid Robot Games; I just don't think we're ready for that yet. Anything's possible, though.

    4. Eskimo Guest

      You're exactly the example why people don't get it. This isn't the hill I die on. I got murdered on the hill because people stuck on the 1960 hill can't visualize pass 2026. (Where's Proximanova when you actually want him)

      You still think and expect computers to be humanoid i.e. mimic human.
      Their current processors have evolved pass so many human inefficiencies and errors.
      The problem of the humanoid games is humans are...

      You're exactly the example why people don't get it. This isn't the hill I die on. I got murdered on the hill because people stuck on the 1960 hill can't visualize pass 2026. (Where's Proximanova when you actually want him)

      You still think and expect computers to be humanoid i.e. mimic human.
      Their current processors have evolved pass so many human inefficiencies and errors.
      The problem of the humanoid games is humans are forcing computers to be humans.
      When you're using your iPhone calculator, it doesn't need to artificially imagine fingers and count them.

    5. 1990_ Diamond

      Eskimo, an iPhone calculator is a closed-loop system; it doesn't navigate shifting weather, ground gridlocks, or unexpected failures. We're far away from fully autonomous commercial flight and ATC, globally. Until then, we have to manage the messy reality of today, which means properly funding human controllers and putting transponders on ground vehicles.

    6. 1990_ Diamond

      Uh, literally talking about the need for specific remedies implemented here, now, and in the future, but that's not 'thinking ahead' enough for you... (getting rid of humans isn't a solution)

  12. Eskimo Guest

    You know who doesn't leave early?
    Computers.

    Time to remove human error from problem.
    Retire all obsolete humans.

  13. ImportViking Diamond

    Some part of what "doesn't make sense", makes sense.

    As written, this is a highly understaffed workplace. And it's already a job where a high level of concentration and alertness is required to avoid accidents and incidents. Any accident or incident can have severe consequences. People can only concentrate for so long before they start getting tired, and that happens faster when there's a lot of stress involved as well. Nothing is as dangerous...

    Some part of what "doesn't make sense", makes sense.

    As written, this is a highly understaffed workplace. And it's already a job where a high level of concentration and alertness is required to avoid accidents and incidents. Any accident or incident can have severe consequences. People can only concentrate for so long before they start getting tired, and that happens faster when there's a lot of stress involved as well. Nothing is as dangerous as a tired ATC who doesn't respond swift enough or who makes mistakes due to fatigue. I'd rather see them go home and recharge for their new shift than staying an hour longer and screw up.

    Having that said, the real problem is that the Trump administration still hasn't fixed the long time ATC shortages, but rather blames and punishes those who are still at work, calling them 'unpatriotic' (as if that has anything to do with it). It's again a deflecting pool of poor decisions.

    I've worked a job where precision, alertness and concentration were required to avoid accidents and millions in losses. If we were exhausted, we were simply told to go home. If we were sick, we were simply told to stay away. And that place didn't even have staffing issues to add to the stress.

  14. Florida sunshine Guest

    Obviously one controller below did not get the $10,000 bonus for working during the shutdown and all that person had to do was show up and DO their job. It is a job and you are paid well comparatively speaking. It’s a job, go find another cushy job that pays you as well and benefits without requiring you to be a business owner or formal education for college or graduate school. Cry me a river...

    Obviously one controller below did not get the $10,000 bonus for working during the shutdown and all that person had to do was show up and DO their job. It is a job and you are paid well comparatively speaking. It’s a job, go find another cushy job that pays you as well and benefits without requiring you to be a business owner or formal education for college or graduate school. Cry me a river on 2.8 percent, sadly that’s our entitlement society. Raises are earned, not expected.

    If you want a guaranteed raise. Go work in a state for minimum wage that is yearly increasing pay rates to hit a target pay. Oh, that’s also right in which you might be fired unexpectedly bc of guaranteed pay policies gored on employers.

    So cry me a river on your cushy job, yes stressful…..but still cushy and it takes people being killed to possibly being fired. SAD.

    1. 1990_ Diamond

      Something, something, bootstraps. /s

      Nothing screams 'I don't understand high-consequence jobs' like calling air traffic control 'cushy' and complaining about an 'entitlement society.'

      Yeah, let's do as Sunshine says: 'go work minimum wage, if you want a raise.' *facepalm*

    2. Eskimo Guest

      Something, something, bootstraps. /s

      Nothing screams 'self entitlement' like using the excuse because I'm doing 'high-consequence jobs' *facepalm*

    3. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      Tell me you know nothing about ATC without saying I know nothing about ATC.

      All those controllers had to do was show up for 43 days in a row without getting paid I mean geez, what a bunch of slackers.

    4. Eskimo Guest

      Or an algorithm that could work 43 years in a row without a single incident.

      I mean geezer, what a bunch of dinosaurs.

    5. 1990_ Diamond

      We already use algorithms for many things, and they make mistakes all the time. At best, they're tools, not our replacements.

    6. Florida sunshine Guest

      Well AI is smarter than most and will already be smarter and smarter.

      If you can’t work 43 days and guaranteed your wages back on 100k job, look in mirror on spending. Creditors or landlords will work with you if you talk to them.

      They got all pay.

      1990 is perfect NSA. But still want cake eat it too. Try being in a position on a job where you are uncertain or...

      Well AI is smarter than most and will already be smarter and smarter.

      If you can’t work 43 days and guaranteed your wages back on 100k job, look in mirror on spending. Creditors or landlords will work with you if you talk to them.

      They got all pay.

      1990 is perfect NSA. But still want cake eat it too. Try being in a position on a job where you are uncertain or bills to pay. Then complain. And I bet you pay lowest taxes you can while championing for etc.

      Donate half your net worth to any charity. I will personally match it in whatever name you’d like or another cause. And that also includes anything you may have in a trust or two. Or offshore.

  15. George Romey Guest

    What were the controllers scheduled hours that night? Did they leave before the end of those hours? If so, did they get supervisory approval to do so? Did they leave and still show as on the clock? Answer the questions before an opinion can be given.

    1. 1990_ Diamond

      Mornin', George. Yowzers, quite the strawman (and false binary) you're buildin' there. Even if the answer to every one of your questions is 'yes, they broke administrative policy and deserved to be fired for it,' it still has no bearing on the mechanical and communication failures that caused the actual runway collision. The firetrucks need transponders. The FAA need to hire, train, retain more controllers, upgrade other equipment. It all costs money. No one likes...

      Mornin', George. Yowzers, quite the strawman (and false binary) you're buildin' there. Even if the answer to every one of your questions is 'yes, they broke administrative policy and deserved to be fired for it,' it still has no bearing on the mechanical and communication failures that caused the actual runway collision. The firetrucks need transponders. The FAA need to hire, train, retain more controllers, upgrade other equipment. It all costs money. No one likes to pay for things. They wait for tragedy, then blame others. So, there. We good, now?

    2. Mike Guest

      The transponders are a safety net and should be there but the accident was caused by an error of the controller.

    3. 1990_ Diamond

      Mike, gonna have to fix both if we're serious about preventing this from happening again. Properly fund both infrastructure and staffing.

    4. JHS Guest

      Agree with George, as usual. I’m a former ATC (medium-busy tower). Shoves were always a thing, right or wrong. Always with tacit approval of supervisor on duty. Was there even a supervisor on duty, or merely a “controller in charge”. Whichever, if you’re going to start firing people to make examples of the behavior, you’d darn well better hire the supervisor as well.

    5. 1990_ Diamond

      JHS, if you're actually a former controller, you know full well that pinning this collision on a shift-change custom is a cop-out. Agreeing with George's rhetorical checklist (aka bad-faith insertion of plausible deniability) doesn't change the runway. Even if rules were bent, an early exit doesn't cause a blind truck crash... a lack of transponders and a broken system does. The solution is clear: properly fund infrastructure, equipment, and staffing. Mitigate risk. Save lives.

      JHS, if you're actually a former controller, you know full well that pinning this collision on a shift-change custom is a cop-out. Agreeing with George's rhetorical checklist (aka bad-faith insertion of plausible deniability) doesn't change the runway. Even if rules were bent, an early exit doesn't cause a blind truck crash... a lack of transponders and a broken system does. The solution is clear: properly fund infrastructure, equipment, and staffing. Mitigate risk. Save lives.

  16. breathesrain Diamond

    I thought it had to do with shift breaks? i.e the breaks are scheduled in a way that one would fall at the end of the shift, so you leave rather than sit in a break room for half an hour and then leave? I wouldn't call that fraud; maybe just bad policy to require breaks to not be deferred that long

  17. Florida Sunshine Guest

    For work, we have contracts with Amazon to do XYZ in fulfillment and distribution centers. I know ( purely casual talking / acquaintances ) that I would see consistently on my visits over a few years at one facility in the smoking area. Lovely people and always showed up for work and exceeded the output rate Amazon predetermined while consistently being in top 1 percent of productivity in a certain state.

    They were fired...

    For work, we have contracts with Amazon to do XYZ in fulfillment and distribution centers. I know ( purely casual talking / acquaintances ) that I would see consistently on my visits over a few years at one facility in the smoking area. Lovely people and always showed up for work and exceeded the output rate Amazon predetermined while consistently being in top 1 percent of productivity in a certain state.

    They were fired and blacklist by Amazon for time card fraud because they would go smoke on unscheduled breaks ( their managers let them go outside since finished ) Let me say, this was also when their work was done and Amazon preferred them to stand at a station for hours doing absolutely nothing.

    So Amazon lets employees sit on phones, eat and mingle at stations while working and screwing around ( violates all policies and termination for cause / unproductive / time card fraud ) and not hit your rate. But people get fired bc time card fraud for smoking after they completed 10 hours of work in 7 hours and it’s approved by their team manager.

    Yes, not nearly same thing as FAA and peoples lives but time card fraud is rampant and happens. I can guarantee the person that fired A & B person engages in time card fraud in a way as well.

    1. Eskimo Guest

      You do know that all those terminations were predetermined by head count and budget right?

      Amazon just need a cause that even 1990_ propaganda unions can't even save them.

    2. 1990_ Diamond

      Ya don't need an Amazon warehouse conspiracy to see that ground vehicles should have transponders and controllers working 10-hour shifts 6 days a week is probably too much.

    3. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      In 2013, 2014, and 2015 I worked 6-10's, every week, and racked up over 800 hours per year of MANDATORY overtime.

      The day I turned 50, I retired. If I hadn't, I'd be dead right now.

      This wasn't at some podunk facility. It was ATL.

    4. 1990_ Diamond

      Wow. Thank you for what you did, ATC. Hope you're enjoying retirement. Well deserved.

    5. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      Thanks. I took a less stressful job a month after retirement, for 2 years, being an ATC instructor in Baghdad, Iraq.

    6. Florida Sunshine Guest

      Yeah why pay people 26-30 dollars an hours when they can replace you for 19-20?

    7. Florida sunshine Guest

      Last time I checked Amazon moves more packages than USPS, FEDEX or UPS. So, it not conspiracy when I personally see it and these were people that DID THEIR JOB EFFECTIVELY.

      If they were slackers and used system, they’d still be employed.

    8. 1990_ Diamond

      sunshine, you can keep pivoting to that flawed example, but you can't outsource air traffic control to the lowest bidder. When you run a skeleton crew into the ground with 800 hours of mandatory overtime a year, people burn out and safety margins disappear. We're talking about lives in the sky, not packages on a belt.

  18. Ron Guest

    As a controller myself, the administration is (not surprisingly) trying to shift blame as far away from themselves as possible and find any scapegoats possible. They slashed staffing targets and won’t even give us our 2.8% “raise” because the administrator claims we don’t work enough. Yes the controllers shouldn’t have left, but unless they were paged/called back and they didnt respond then that obviously had NOTHING to do with the crash in any way.

    1. JPlat Guest

      The Trump family as a whole gave up earning hundreds of billions in favor of working for the good for the American people and in service of the American people and here you are complaining about a few percentages of pay increase.
      Ungrateful

    2. 1990_ Diamond

      Ron gets it. Thank you for what you do. Hopefully LGA actually fixes the transponder issue (or lack thereof), soon, so incidents like this are less likely to ever happen again.

      (JPlat, holy gish-gallop, Batman; is your 'source' OAN, or Newsmax this time? Ignore Trump’s crypto, etc. $2.2 billion in 2025; blame those pesky wage-earners instead! /s)

    3. Eskimo Guest

      They left early.

      Nobody will page you to comeback to work during your working hours.
      You're supposed to still be there "working".

      And if they got your 2.8% raise, would they still stay to the end of their shift?

      These are issues with humans everywhere not exclusive to ATC. But most other jobs don't play with other people's lives.

    4. 1990_ Diamond

      Eskimo, sure, the FAA is definitely going to clean up those 'early shove' loopholes now, but treating a historically winked-at practice like it's the root cause of a runway disaster is absurd. It's like pulling over someone going 2 mph over the limit to ignore the broken infrastructure. The agency is just looking for scapegoats to distract from their failure to properly fund and staff our airspace.

    5. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      Such an uneducated and stupid comment. Computers don't understand nuance and finesse.

    6. JoePro Diamond

      @1990_: "Trolling" is just a lofty way of describing the juvenile behavior of negative attention seeking. Used to be reviled, but in today's society seems to be exhalted.

      Given that he never seems to rebuke the relevant points (the most prominent one here being your remarks about algorithms making mistakes) in the discussion but continues to repeat his "obsolete" take anyways, negative attention seeking seems to be the most likely explanation.

    7. 1990_ Diamond

      @joepro Oh, the irony... I get accused of trolling, merely because I respond and engage frequently (albeit, nearly always on-topic), but I think it's usually by folks who merely disagree with whatever positions I'm taking (hopefully).

    8. Eskimo Guest

      The obsolete JoeDinosaur is back. I thought you finally went extinct.

      At least you're not trying to defend your colleagues and demand more pay this time. Do you leave an hour early too?

      Can't see how a fossil can understand something beyond Mesozoic.

    9. Eskimo Guest

      Computers talking to each other doesn't need or have nuance and finesse.

      Like I keep saying, people stuck on the 1990_ hill can't visualize pass 2026.

    10. JoePro Diamond

      More ad hominem junk from our dear friend. Unsurprising and reinforces my position regarding negative attention seeking.

  19. ovacikar Member

    That one hour difference is likely due to the shift overlap, if it’s a longstanding practice.

  20. Maryland Guest

    Then Secretary Duffy is an abuser as well for failure to solve the need for ATC overtime? Workers required to
    serve overtime without compensation are slaves.

    1. Mark Christopher Guest

      4000 people in training to solve. Why didn't Mayor Pete handle the problem??

    2. JoePro Diamond

      Won't solve. Tons will wash out. Plus they already reduced the staffing targets to make it look like we're better staffed than we are.

      All that said, our staffing crisis is not *solely* Trump admin fault. Biden admin, Trump 1.0, Obama... things get worse under all of them. But Trump- as a hater of all feds- is definitely making things worse this time around in a much shorter timeframe.

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John Guest

Sometimes common sense needs to be used despite whatever electronic "safety measures" may exist. For example: If I'm sitting at an intersection in my car and waiting at a red light, I'll always look left and right before moving forward when the light turns green. You never know when somebody in the opposing traffic will try to run a light. I'd much rather be alive then "right".

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isaacC Diamond

Regardless of the worker / labour procedures that may or may not have been followed.  The core fact that the system is still antiquated.  Nav Canada has been doing it electronically for decades; yet still have paper strips in US towers.  All communication via radio is limited in Canada to texting and communication that is faster and more clear/effective.   FAA needs to upgrade...stop trying to recreate the wheel and just implement what the rest of the world already has.....ironically...the uniion is pushing back against the more use of technology and centralized towers due to.....preserving jobs.....

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Spoonful Guest

More propaganda fed by the 2025 project regime. Blame the overworked public servant, and intimidate the once proud union into a corner.

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Grant McHerron Guest

I suspect these two will be the scapegoats so FAA can be seen to be doing "something" while the underlying root causes remain (over worked ATC staff, too many movements at airports, etc). Interesting that they're talking about firing when the NTSB haven't completed their analysis.

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Florida sunshine Guest

Oh and a note below about Amazon. In fulfillment and distribution centers, it has 2 shifts at 10.5 hours / 10 paid ( 4 days week ) and peak times 11.5 hours / 11 paid ( 5 days and fired even if your in hospital and don’t show ). So cry me a river. Do your job. Or find another. Or become your own boss

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