The FAA's nationwide ground stop scares the bejabbers out of me
I don’t know about you, but my experience has been that’s it’s easier to get answers out of the CIA than the FAA
I say that as the transportation reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times decades ago. I’m hoping that has changed for the better. And that the aftermath of the ground stop isn’t dirtied by politics. That’s because this is a priority one safety and national defense issue that affects every American.
As an engineering, operational and national security issue, so many questions require answering. Among them:
I can’t imagine an entire safety system shut down. I always was told that the FAA has “backup systems” so that a potential catastrophe like this could not have happened. If no backup, why?
Back then, the FAA had a reputation for failing to update its information technology. Whether by the failure to properly fund the agency or simple incompetence, I never found out why. If so, is that still the problem and why?
When was the failure of the safety system discovered? Were any flights allowed to take off when the system was malfunctioning? Who was in the chain of command?
Call it my suspicious nature, but I’m not ready to accept the administration’s assurances that the “there is no evidence of foul play.” It’s a little early for that, isn’t t? Was there a security breach? If so, is the administration playing it down, whether for its own political purposes or because it doesn’t want to cause a public panic?
Congressional investigations are already being promised, fromDemocratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Sen. Ted Cruz, the committee’s top Republican. I suspect the Republican controlled House will also spring into action.
It will be so easy to blame Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, whose aviation and federal transportation portfolio is empty. But the cabinet position is often political, as both parties have filled the position by someone who doesn’t know squat about all the many, many functions of the department. I think this small-town mayor is a bubble head, but even Einstein would have trouble keeping track of everything the department does.
It needs to be noted that the FAA is operating without a permanent administrator because questions raised about President Joe Biden’s nomination to head the department—Phillip Washington.
As CNN explained:
[Washington] has faced questions about his limited aviation experience and in September, was named in a search warrant issued as part of a political corruption investigation in Los Angeles. It sought more information related to potential favoritism in the awarding of contracts by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority.
Because his nomination wasn’t acted upon during the last Congress, Biden faced a choice this month of whether to resubmit his name for consideration or identify a new nominee. Biden renominated Washington last week, signaling the administration’s continued support for him. But it remains unclear when he will receive a hearing.
Back when I was reporter, I found the FAA’s closed-mouth attitude was an inbreed culture that considered itself the expert custodian of a system that was way to complicated for the public to understand.
Perhaps so. But this being a democracy whose bureaucratic activities require public scrutiny, the FAA and the Transportation Department will have a lot of explaining to do.