• sharkteethsandwich@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 day ago

    I think when Reagan fired all the ATCs, they were temporarily replaced with military trained ones until they could hire and train replacements. But that was a time when there was significantly less air travel and less ATCs than we have and need now.

    So maybe they might have the military take over some positions? There’s no way they could fill every single airport and I doubt that they even have the same training and skill set as commercial ATCs.

    But having a military take over of airports is the kind of dictator move that probably makes someone like trump salivate.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      But that was a time when there was significantly less air travel and less ATCs than we have and need now.

      This actually isn’t true, at least the “have” part.

      There were ~14k ATC controllers employed before the Reagan strike. There are currently ~10,600 controllers. The required staffing level to fully staff all 313 facilities is ~14,600.

      • frunch@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        But at least they can rely on the billionaires to throw them a bone, since they are the ones benefiting most from this arrangement. There was one just the other day that dropped $130 million just to keep the troops out of the red. I don’t know if there are any billionaires with a soft spot for ATCs but i suppose we’ll find out soon enough!

        • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          That money’ll go a lot farther if it’s only covering ~10,000 ATCs rather than ~1,000,000 service members.

          • frunch@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Well, then i guess we might just see another billionaire bailout. This is the stupidest fucking timeline

              • frunch@lemmy.world
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                1 day ago

                Fully agreed. The billions they’re hoarding is money that should be funding all the things the taxpayers need–the basics like food/shelter/healthcare… Things that countries with much smaller GDPs don’t have nearly as much difficulty figuring out.

                I also think it’s worth noting that the states receiving the most SNAP benefits include New York, California, and Texas–it’s very possible Trump is doing this especially because it stands to affect 2 states he’s not entirely thrilled with. Across the country, 42 million people have been relying on the SNAP benefits they were receiving, which average approx $190/mo per person. Where are the billionaires lining up to help these folks in need?