The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility.
If ATCs strike right now, what could they even do? They can’t possibly bring on enough scabs to do the job. If they tried, it’d be a disaster and ensure US air travel dies.
Hey, Air Traffic Controllers! You have immense power right now!
Edit: to be clear, I’m not saying this isn’t going to happen. Trump is a fucking moron who thinks of himself as the second coming of Reagan. So he will 100% happily fire all of the traffic controllers we have if they even breathe the word “strike”. I’m just outlining what a god-awful fucked up future we have in store for us.
Air travel is worse than trains, better than driving. Knowing America, people would only end up driving more. I personally don’t think that’s a good thing
People fly because it’s the fastest means of travel. The fastest trains will never be as fast as flying but people are also never going to be able to drive as fast as high speed rail.
In theory, that’s true. In practice, most people aren’t willing to risk jail time
Consider what happened with controllers under Reagan. Nearly all went on strike. Of those that went on strike, there were 2 groups: Those that crossed the line and went back to work when ordered, and those that held the line in solidarity
Those that crossed the line were allowed to keep their jobs. Those that didn’t were immediately fired and barred from ever working for the federal government again. That effectively meant their career was over. They could never work as an air traffic controller again. Jail is an even bigger threat than that
It’s more or less a literal prisoner dilemma, except we have a historical precedent for it. I think it’s incredibly shitty, but realistically I don’t see it working
This isn’t the same situation. ATCs just can’t be replaced this time. Reagan showed why that’s an incredibly bad idea, and the repercussions of doing it again would destroy the civil air transport system.
So yes, they can arrest them if they like or bar them from becoming ATCs again. The situation remains that air travel won’t exist anymore.
If ATCs strike right now, what could they even do? They can’t possibly bring on enough scabs to do the job. If they tried, it’d be a disaster and ensure US air travel dies.
Hey, Air Traffic Controllers! You have immense power right now!
I’d be willing to bet on trump speculating in the next few days that we should get AI to do their jobs.
Not really, no. Just ask those who got fired by Reagan.
That didn’t work out as well as Reagan thought it would. And has been fucking up our air travel situation for the last 40 years. To do it again would literally kill air travel in the country for the next 30 years. People would literally stop flying.
Edit: to be clear, I’m not saying this isn’t going to happen. Trump is a fucking moron who thinks of himself as the second coming of Reagan. So he will 100% happily fire all of the traffic controllers we have if they even breathe the word “strike”. I’m just outlining what a god-awful fucked up future we have in store for us.
I say do it! Air travel is a huge waste and harmful to the environment. Maybe this will finally lead to better trains!
Air travel is worse than trains, better than driving. Knowing America, people would only end up driving more. I personally don’t think that’s a good thing
People fly because it’s the fastest means of travel. The fastest trains will never be as fast as flying but people are also never going to be able to drive as fast as high speed rail.
Which caused domino effects that are still being felt. They can’t do that again. There simply isn’t anybody they can hire.
The federal government could easily say to the strikers: Get back to work now, or you go to jail
It is illegal for ATC to go on strike, and the punishment can include jail time. Likely most would capitulate
OK, they go to jail.
If they hold out, the government really has nothing they can do.
Solidarity. Solidarity. Solidarity.
In theory, that’s true. In practice, most people aren’t willing to risk jail time
Consider what happened with controllers under Reagan. Nearly all went on strike. Of those that went on strike, there were 2 groups: Those that crossed the line and went back to work when ordered, and those that held the line in solidarity
Those that crossed the line were allowed to keep their jobs. Those that didn’t were immediately fired and barred from ever working for the federal government again. That effectively meant their career was over. They could never work as an air traffic controller again. Jail is an even bigger threat than that
It’s more or less a literal prisoner dilemma, except we have a historical precedent for it. I think it’s incredibly shitty, but realistically I don’t see it working
This isn’t the same situation. ATCs just can’t be replaced this time. Reagan showed why that’s an incredibly bad idea, and the repercussions of doing it again would destroy the civil air transport system.
So yes, they can arrest them if they like or bar them from becoming ATCs again. The situation remains that air travel won’t exist anymore.
no…facepalm
Really? You think this is an unprecedented situation in labor history?
alright we will do it your way, tell the ATC workers to stand their ground and goto jail. we will see how many stand in “solidarity”
It’s not a strike when they aren’t getting paid for labor hours
Imo it will happen if things drag on.