From thousands of canceled flights to planes that almost collided on the runway, airlines across the United States are struggling.
In this exclusive interview with TSR Newz, the White House transportation secretary Pete butt talk to Shade roomby Justin Carter on what the Department of Transportation has in place to turn the tide and what major changes we can expect from airlines in the future.
Pete Buttigieg walks into the shade room to discuss a plan to fix the ongoing aviation problems
And as the summer travel season approaches, many airlines are doing more for less and have taken note of what happened to Southwest Airlines over the holidays.
17,000 Southwest flights were canceled during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year, leaving passengers stranded at airports and unable to access customer service for days.
On Thursday, a Senate hearing was held where Southwest executives offered sincere apologies and said they didn’t have enough equipment to handle winter freezes. that most Americans have experienced.
Meanwhile on Friday, Southwest operators said they were rolling out fixes for a crew scheduling system that had failed in the extreme weather conditions the country faced at the end of the year. year 2022.
Ongoing aviation problems spook travelers as several planes nearly collided on the runway
The airline problems at Southwest are just one of many going on.
On January 13, two planes nearly collided at New York’s JFK Airport, when a Delta plane on take-off nearly collided with an American Airlines flight that crossed the runway ahead, some distance away. 1,000 feet.
The same thing happened last Saturday in Austin, Texas, when a FedEx plane was landing just as a Southwest Airlines flight was about to take off. In that case, they were only 100 feet apart.
During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, President Joe Biden praised his $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation, of which $25 billion would transform airports. and our air traffic control.
Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg said the changes were extremely important.
“That almost made JFK miss, it was a situation of pilot error, a fast-thinking air traffic controller intervened, I actually spoke to the controller and he said, Look. see, you know this, this is just me doing my job. But that work is, of course, very important, saving lives,” Buttigieg said Shade room.
Buttigieg praises “Multiple layers of protection” but says “It doesn’t sustain itself”
Buttigieg went on to say that “the good news is that there are a lot of layers of protection,” but that “it is not self-sustaining.”
“Now the good news is that there are so many layers of protection that they are really focused on eliminating any point of failure to make sure there is a system backing up the system, people backing up people. But again, that is not maintained alone. We must work to ensure that we continue to maintain our record of extremely safe passenger travel in the US.”
He added that “we (have) the most complex airspace in the world” and asserted that “flying in the US continues to be the safest way to travel,” despite recent incidents. .
“We have the most complex aerospace in the world,” said Buttigieg. “And yet, flying in the US continues to be the safest way to travel, and we want to stay that way. One is what I might call the back of the house, most passengers will never find themselves inside the control tower, but every passenger trusts what’s going on in the control tower don’t save it.”
“We’re investing in equipment, training, and people,” said the White House Transportation Secretary.
Buttigieg goes on to say that “we are investing in equipment… training…. and visionaries to continue to modernize that system,” among other investments.
“We are investing in equipment, we are investing in training, we are investing in people with a vision to continue to modernize that system. But at the same time, we’re also investing heavily in the things that passengers see for themselves at the terminals, everything from investing in small airports where sometimes they don’t even have a permanent building. , to some of the largest airports in the world. The US is ready for a more spacious lounge, better security checkpoint experience and upgraded baggage handling system.”
Military experts are warning that China’s spy balloon could be armed with nuclear weapons capable of wiping out the entire US electronic grid through an electromagnetic pulse attack. pic.twitter.com/lnso98fhSQ
– Political journalism (@thepoliticpress) February 14, 2023
Buttigieg speaks out about the recent downing of a hot air balloon last week and agency coordination
He also mentioned the recent downing of a hot air balloon last week, which is believed to have been a Chinese spy mission, causing “about 55 flights” to be suspended or delayed, calling it “” a good example” of synergies between airlines. , the Federal Aviation Administration and even the military.
“Remember, the hot air balloon is flying at extremely high altitude, which means that if it does go down eventually it is going through the airspace and you have to make sure that no aircraft is flying below altitude. there. may have been affected, of course, are also taking care of passengers on the ground. So the FAA ended up calling a stop on the ground, about 55 flights were delayed, I think, an hour to two hours on average while that operation went on. And that’s a very high example.
Buttigieg assured the Americans that “coordination of this kind occurs every day between the military space program” and the FAA.
But this kind of coordination happens every day in the midst of the military space program, if you just think about a space launch that goes straight through National Airspace en route to orbit, where that could be the region commercial flight operations. And so the FAA works to make sure at every step, whether it’s military, space, operational, weather emergencies or anything else, that we’re being vigilant and ensure passengers are always safe.
President Biden’s new law will fund billions of dollars in US infrastructure
On Tuesday, President Biden said the United States used to be number one in terms of infrastructure, but lamented the country’s recent drop to 13th in the world.
The infrastructure law will fund billions of dollars in road and bridge projects and replace toxic lead water pipes in some of the oldest cities in America.
Philadelphia, among those older cities, will soon receive $500 million to replace aging lead pipes, many of which pump water into Black communities.
Meanwhile, Washington DC and Rochester, New York will also receive more than $50 million to replace or repair plumbing.
