Air Traffic Control Posts

What a difference a letter makes.In yet another dose of infinite wisdom, the FAA recently transformed millions of dollars worth of avionics into window boxes when it released the updated “A” version of AC 90-100. The Advisory Circular…

All this time I thought it was my problem for not understanding the ins and outs of the airline world that have wreaked such havoc on aviation. I never seemed to stop shaking my head every time I read the next chapter from the Northwest or Delta or …

This story would actually be funny if it weren’t such a sad reminder of miserable state of air traffic control in Brazil.When Pope Benedict left Brazil on Sunday aboard an Alitalia flight, he wanted to send one final good will message to his …

Being a passenger on board an airplane that barely escapes becoming a pile of twisted metal and flesh would probably be enough to drive most men’s passions for air safety, at least that’s what I’d say about Joe Sharkey.Sharkey, th…

You just have to love the Brazilian government.After eight months of pilot and air traffic controller interviews, the Federal Police there seem to have decided the only logical reason for last fall’s midair collision over the rainforest was t…

Being married to a psychologist gives me a never-ending look at the insights those professionals use to tell when someone’s thinking has gone off kilter. Take being neurotic for example.That’s when someone tries attacking a problem the…

Henry Ogrodzinski thinks the FAA’s Valentine’s Day funding legislation is “a solution in search of a problem.” He’s the president and CEO of NASAO, the National Association of State Aviation Officials. We caught up with…

Air Line Pilots Association President John Prater recently painted a bleak picture of airline travel for the upcoming tourist season, “This summer is going to be brutal,” he told Air Transport World Online. Prater believes this summer w…

I received quite a few private pieces of mail about my post on the Brazilian air traffic controller issue last week, so I thought I’d share something I learned after speaking with Marc Baumgartner, president of the International Federation of …

Just when pilots and flight departments began to breath a little easier about flying outside the U.S. comes word that the Brazilian air traffic control is finally coming unglued, much the way many predicted after the midair collision over the rainfo…

Airlines are Pulling Out All the Stops FAA Administrator Marion Blakey expressed surprise recently at the heat her user-fee proposal generated so far with industry professionals, but also from Congress.Blakey was shocked … shocked mind you, …

There is nothing worse than flying into busy terminal airspace when the weather is bad and the pilots are feeling like they’re four or five minutes behind the airplane. The captain’s and first officer’s hands are moving furiously a…

With less than a year to go before long-running Aviation Trust Fund legislation expires, FAA administrator Marion Blakey has been developing some serious rhetoric about the need to fix a funding system no one else except the airlines seems to think …