Summary

The Trump administration emailed air traffic controllers urging them to quit and accept buyouts 24 hours after a fatal Reagan plane crash.

At 8:30 p.m. Thursday, the email urged federal employees to pursue private-sector jobs, offering pay incentives and vacation benefits while on government payroll.

This program contradicts established rules by allowing second employment, sparking union concerns about losing experienced personnel amid an air traffic controller shortage.

Trump blamed previous administrations for safety issues and misrepresented FAA standards, intensifying culture wars as officials remain uncertain about the buyout program’s future.

  • @[email protected]
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    331 minutes ago

    Ah yes, just what we need right now… FEWER controllers in an industry that’s already short-staffed, and with two very recent fatal plane crashes. Perfect fucking idea.

  • @[email protected]
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    122 hours ago

    You know what, fuck it. I hope they quit. Let’s accelerate this whole bullshit to its conclusion as fast as possible. Seems to me the only way through this fascist hellscape is by pissing off enough people to provoke a popular response.

  • @[email protected]
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    8010 hours ago

    Given the persistent and extreme understaffing of air traffic controllers it wouldn’t take that many quitting at the same time to have a massive impact.

    • @[email protected]
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      289 hours ago

      What do the think is going to happen? Privatize air traffic control? Or just rank the economy so bad they buy everything up?

      • @[email protected]
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        258 hours ago

        Well the cynic in me says “to undermine the public trust in the safety of air travel so people become more isolated, unwilling to organize, and dependent on either corporate-controlled media or gasoline-powered cars to maintain contact with any part of the world outside a 20-mile radius,” and the nutjob conspiracy theorist in me sure thinks he could make a convincing corkboard out of it if you gave him enough thumb tacks and red string, but once again I could be making the mistake of assuming they’re going into this with a plan and not just flailing wildly to make it look like they’re addressing a problem they have no idea how to solve.

        • @[email protected]
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          158 hours ago

          just flailing wildly to make it look like they’re addressing a problem they have no idea how to solve.

          Yeah, rumor goes this started because the FAA had issues with Starship blowing up and raining debris, and Musk deciding to teach them a lesson.

          • @[email protected]
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            125 minutes ago

            The thing is that the Starship issue really isn’t that big a deal. There is always an FAA investigation after every spacecraft or aircraft flight anomaly.

            It’s not the first time and definitely won’t be the last that a craft will fail to get to orbit, especially experimental ones like Starship units current iterative form.

            The bigger question with the Starship anomaly is whether the active flight routes in that area during the launch window were normal or unexpected. Closer to the launch site there are large restricted areas, and launches are negotiated ahead of time and paths well known. Planes aren’t normally under the direct flight path for that exact reason.

  • .Donuts
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    7710 hours ago

    How does it go again? “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity”

    The fact that they are using these tragic events as a means to dismantle the government even more quickly is horrifying to watch from the other end of the pond.

  • xapr [he/him]
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    9 hours ago

    I see that Trump is trying to reduce US carbon output by drastically reducing commercial air traffic, either by simple lack of air traffic controllers or by making the public too scared to fly! Quite the environmentalist! /s