DE pilot: Doubling up not the answer in air traffic control towers
I think we’ve all heard about the recent incidents where air traffic controllers have been sleeping and planes have had to land without direction. An FAA official was forced to resign over the issue. Investigation into one of the incidents found that there was only one controller on duty and he had worked a double shift. I am certain there will be new regulations coming, probably relating to how many shifts can be worked and perhaps making sure a back-up controller is present, so I was interested a headline with a contradictory point.
Delta pilot Mike Protack says he doesn’t see doubling up personnel as the answer to air traffic controllers nodding off on the job.
He adds planes land frequently at airports without any air-traffic controllers on duty.
It looks like WDEL left out some information here. Mike Protack is a pilot, that’s true, but no mention that he was also a Republican candidate for Senate, governor and county council? No mention that he is currently running for chair of the Delaware Republican party? Does Mike Protack’s answer to the question have anything to do with his political ideology? We know there is a contentious relationship of the Republican party with air traffic controllers in the past.
I don’t doubt that Mike Protack has knowledge of flying and landing at airports without traffic controllers, but it seems an odd point to make. Larger airports need air traffic controllers because there is a lot of planes landing and taking off. We were lucky these recent incidents didn’t end in tragedy but they very well could have, so it seems odd that his answer is we don’t even need air traffic controllers.