"Position and hold, EFC after I go to the bathroom"

At least he has his priorities straight and did not jeopardize safety. This is an FAA staffing issue to be sure. I'll bet user fees would not have let this happen. :(
 
12 minutes to go to the john? Don't they have one near the tower station? Or do they have to go down the stairs, to the other end of the building, turn right at the end of the hall? Either that or there was some good reading material.

Jeff
 
There's a shortage of controllers. Lack of funding has nothing to do with this. It's a lack of qualified candidates. And, they tighten regulations and restrictions so badly the experienced controllers are taking retirements when they can. This is on top of mass retirements coming in the twenty-five year wake of rebuilding the ATC staffing requirements in the early `80s.

If they make this kind thing fodder for user fees, it would be an outright lie.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
12 minutes to go to the john? Don't they have one near the tower station? Or do they have to go down the stairs, to the other end of the building, turn right at the end of the hall?
Click to expand...

Probably had to go back through security. :rolleyes:
 
KennyFlys said:
If they make this kind thing fodder for user fees, it would be an outright lie.
Click to expand...
It's a government bureaucracy. Would outright lies surprise you? The cynic's view is that a bureaucracy's sole purpose is to perpetuate itself and grow to the extent possible.
 
A friend of a friend is a air traffic controller - so take this comment for what it's worth.

To hear him tell it, starting very recently, controllers have been 'making a point' by unofficially slowing things down so long as there is a legitimate (i.e. anything that is defensible from an adverse employment action) reason. Can't fire the lone controller for taking an allowed bathroom break. Can't fire controllers who are spacing long and wide during any type of weather since they're just insuring safety. Well, you get the picture. I pointed out that this was just a passive-aggressive form of holding the system hostage, to which he just shrugged the 'so what' shrug.
 
Ken Ibold said:
It's a government bureaucracy. Would outright lies surprise you? The cynic's view is that a bureaucracy's sole purpose is to perpetuate itself and grow to the extent possible.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Towers are cropping up like mushrooms. If you ask me there is a secret post-911 TSA plot to get every pilot "in the system".
 
Pjsmith said:
A friend of a friend is a air traffic controller - so take this comment for what it's worth.

To hear him tell it, starting very recently, controllers have been 'making a point' by unofficially slowing things down so long as there is a legitimate (i.e. anything that is defensible from an adverse employment action) reason. Can't fire the lone controller for taking an allowed bathroom break. Can't fire controllers who are spacing long and wide during any type of weather since they're just insuring safety. Well, you get the picture. I pointed out that this was just a passive-aggressive form of holding the system hostage, to which he just shrugged the 'so what' shrug.
Click to expand...

That's what this sounds like to me unless the controller actually was experiencing a "medical emergency" of the loose bowel kind. And I thought it was 18 minutes not 12, but either is way too long for a simple potty break.

BTW the holding was only part of the story. The trainee also had to keep a Lifeguard flight on the ground until the controller returned. I see that as an even bigger issue.
 
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