So, like a tax. Got it.

 

No. A fee paid each time an aircraft used an ATC service. Not a fuel tax where airlines subsidize GA.

​​​​​​https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-...system-broken/

This is apart from whether or not ATC should be privatized (which it should.)

 

Maybe we could get ATC to uplink a Venmo code.. we could pay for ATC and FAA services.. so much per mile..

Oh wait.. we already do that from fuel taxes.

 

do we get to select which atc provider we use? verizon atc won’t give me anything more than .78, but t-mobile will give me normal speed right now

 

Ask the Canadians, British, Aussies, Germans and Kiwis how it's done. It seems to work fine there. And their controllers don't miss a paycheck.

 

As a GA pilot we need to have this pay for that freedom too. Just like toll roads, airport landing fees should be the only payment because that is by choice. I don't haver to pay to drive the interstate system unless it's in a high traffic area and there is a local authority. I don't fly GA into LGA so that mess shouldn't be subsidized by non users.

Also, we need to provide political cover for the controllers in this situation. It's effectively a lock out that makes you work for nothing. That is complete BS. These people need to pay bills. If they are standing outside the home depot for temporary work to feed a themselves and their family, that's OK. COLA in cali is a significant factor if you don't know when you're going to be paid next. Military and law enforcement are being paid because it's politically popular. Controllers are essential, or at least they were deemed so at one time. FUPM(them)

 

Why are they always going on strike then?

 

The US is unique among Western democracies in that it "shuts down" during budgetary impasses.

(Northern Ireland went this route for about 3 years without a halt in services, for example)

There's no reason it has to happen, except it's useful political leverage. There are plenty of legislative ways to correct this.

That said, while it's stupid, expensive and disruptive, and will also never go away.

 

Because they can.

 

We all are very familiar with the mechanisms used to nudge Congress towards ending the last shutdown. The media, corporate America and politicians have effectively blacked out that mechanism because it is inherently very effective and has the ability to completely render them powerless, just envision them having to drive home like a everyday people.

Duffy has threatened to fire any controller calling out sick during the shutdown. Furthermore, the Taft-Harley Act prohibits strikes amongst private-sector employees if it could cause a national emergency... So restrictions on strikes are not limited to just public servants as Reagan demonstrated, but everyday civilians as well. Not exactly what the framers of the Constitution had in mind.

The Axis II anti-socials and psychopaths running the country have managed to take back most of our rights established under the Bill of Rights. The Patriot Act, the creation of the NSA, suspending press passes, weaponizing three letter agencies, cancel culture, audits, red flag laws; all of it, guilty until proven innocent. The place is becoming like the Third Reich mid-30s and it is NOT limited to one party, its both parties serving the same masters- just envision who you can't talk bad about without major repercussions.

If you want to end this BS, ALPA should support ATC walking off the job. If they fire a controller, have ALPA walk us off the job as well. We would have a budget tomorrow afternoon and they would change the law allowing for continuation of government, taking this move off the chess table for good. I am not a fan of playing with people's livelihoods for politics of all things. On a current trajectory, ATC is understaffed and still running 24/7 ops so airlines can get paid to repositions flights on a redeye for more profitable AM launches. Controllers are working understaffed, and now sick so they don't get fired. If ALPA is about safety, this is the time to act. This is not about a work action, this is about upsetting an accident chain in the making.

EDIT: We would be the a-holes for those travelling over a few days, but the industry would be the heroes, the Robinhood, of ending this technique that only hurts people already struggling to get by.