Flight cancellations out of EWR

An air traffic controller blew the whistle on the unsafe conditions there. He flat out said it is unsafe to fly into and out of there. The air traffic systems they have in place keep breaking and they are severely understaffed.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/04/newark-airport-flight-delays-air-traffic-control

Isn't it wonderful how DOGE fired air traffic controllers and their support staff? This will be the first but not the last airport to go into meltdown. Throw Wednesday's transition to real IDs in and you are looking at a possible nation wide meltdown. This is what you get with incompetent governance.

Zero Air Traffic Controllers were fired.  Your whole post is idiocy. 

“We protected roles that are critical to safety,” Department of Transportation spokesperson Halee Dobbins said Wednesday. “On the layoffs, these were probationary employees — meaning they had only been at the FAA for less than two years, represented less than 1% of FAA’s more than 45,000 employees.”

You can look at the statistics along with the story here, notice the understaffing existed in the charts in 9/2023.  You didn't make a peep back then.  

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/air-traffic-control-centers-understaffed-doge-layoffs/3870270/

How many took the buyout offer? And were not technically fired. How many air traffic support staff did they fire? Do tell. 

How many TSA employees were let go? 

The nonsense that ATCs are "wasteful" and should be fired is beyond stupid.

According to FOX News Pete Buttigieg was at fault for the train derailment in New Palestine, OH.     

Im curious to hear who they think is at fault for this issue.

ATC's are tough jobs with long hours, lots of stress....and shitty pay.   Entry level jobs pay about the same as a customer service manager at Target.      But MAGA doesnt value government workers.    Seems like you would have to be pretty desperate to want to go work for DOnald Trump's government given the rhetoric they sponcer.

The Newark problem is that 20% of the staff walked off the job.

The DOT emphasized hiring the "right type" of people rather than the best candidates and upgrading the system.

Over 1,000 would-be air traffic controllers were wiped out from consideration overnight because of diversity and inclusion hiring targets suddenly being implemented, according to the lead lawyer in a class-action lawsuit against the FAA.

Simultaneously, a four-year near-freeze on air traffic controller hiring was also underway as the DEI policies were introduced, according to Pearson, a former air traffic controller and trainer. “The FAA, because of DEI policies, stopped hiring for three to four years and that directly correlates to the lack of staffing, and controllers being overworked and getting fatigued and burned out,

They walked off the job because their employment contract gives them trauma leave for 45 days at a time. When the system shut down, they thought they were going to loose hundreds lives and in the aftermath of that 20% of them took trauma leave. They can only return to work in 45 days if they pass a psychological evaluation.

20% of the controllers walked out the same day. Didn't know psych problems were contagious 

It is part of their employment contract. After any traumatic event as described in the contract that involves their job, they are allowed to go on leave for 45 days.   At the end of 45 days they have to pass a psychological evaluation before they're allowed to return.  

But you don't have to take my word for it. You can simply Google it yourself.  The Trump administration is lying when they say they walked off the job. 

Tommorw is going to be a real fun day for air travel. 

Isnt that the number you've been telling everyone we need to reduce the government workforce by because those workers dont do anything?     You need to get your argument straight, Tom, so people might attempt to take you seriously.

Is the FAA overstaffed or understaffed?     I know the answer - but you seem to struggle with yours.