Kate Kelly
speaker
115 appearances
4 recordings
2 series
first heard May 2025
last heard 6 Jul
Kate Kelly’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 3 in all, peaking in Jan 2026 with 2.
Appearances
At a certain point, the FAA will say that. When enough controllers don't show up for work for whatever reason— They have what are called staffing triggers, and they just can't run the airspace. They either have to dramatically reduce the number of flights that can come in and out on that day, or they have to engage in a ground stop.
One famous example of this occurred in 2019 when there was a government shutdown and about 10 controllers in different spots around the country called in sick on a given day. And the political pressure with stranded passengers and canceled flights became so great that that the government essentially reopened.
So there are cases in which the staffing is just so low that the FAA says, basta, we can't continue flying. They are case by case periodically slowing flights or grounding flights. But to my knowledge, they haven't proactively cut off the number of flights that can come in and out of Newark right now.
Yeah, so Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who just came in in January, has been pretty outspoken about this in general and in recent days. He has said that the technology is antiquated. He has said that we need to move far ahead in terms of modernizing that technology. He also wants to solve for the staffing problems.
He's already introduced some enhanced pay and incentives for people to consider joining the FAA as controllers. And they seem like they're committed to cutting red tape, investing where necessary, putting in better technology, and so on. So I think the momentum and the commitment are there in theory. And I think they may be able to move forward more expeditiously than some of their forebears.
On the other hand, these are not quick fixes. Maybe they'll come up with some innovative ideas for bringing in new, fresh talent and fast-tracking them, but they can only track them so fast. And if the technology is not backed up and consistent, it's not going to help anyone.
Yeah, I think it's a fair question and one that I can't readily answer. I do know something about air traffic control, for example, in Washington, D.C., and it's absolutely got its own set of challenges. And while staffing has been a problem there, too, they have a totally separate issue, which is just the complexity of their airspace with helicopters flying in and out.
And that became the issue during this terrible crash in January. So I think what's tricky about this conversation is every airport, every airspace is nuanced in its own way. That's why these controllers spend years even getting up to par on the place where they're working.
Yeah, it's rational. But I also think statistically aviation is safe. The FAA does have basic guardrails that we need to rely on them to put in place. And even in this case, the airline that is a major user of this particular airport is telling us we're keeping safety first and foremost. We're dialing back some of our operations here and we're going to lean on the FAA to do more as well.
That's right.
And I have to say, I'm not a nervous flyer, but I've had a hard time flying out of Washington Reagan since the crash in January that I've been covering, just because I know how complex that airspace is, and I know that they, too, are dealing with staffing shortages.
In terms of Newark, I don't fly them a lot, but I was in a group chat recently with some people who were involved in a trip out of Newark. And I was really uncertain of how to reply. I have my own opinions, which is that the system is stressed right now, and I do know of some of the particular challenges that Newark has.
At the time, though, I really didn't know any more than the other people knew. And as we used to say when I worked at The Wall Street Journal and we were covering the beginning of the financial crisis, you don't cry fire in a crowded theater. If you don't have a specific and credible reason to tell people that a crisis is afoot, you don't say it.
Because it's not fair and it's not ethical to alarm members of the public, even your friends and family, if you don't know for sure that there's an issue.
Do you have any trips planned? Yes, I'm actually out of town right now, and I will be returning to New York to LaGuardia.
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