Above, TWG Senior Advisor Barry Valentine contirbutes on a Fox Business segment related to flight delays caused by the partial federal government shutdown.
Barry Valentine, Senior Advisor to The Wicks Group, discussed how the partial government shutdown resulted in widespread flight delays that rippled across airports in the Northeastern United States during a recent Fox Business segment.
Speaking on the same day that La Guardia Airport in New York temporarily stopped receiving inbound flights, Mr. Valentine explained to viewers why the Federal Aviation Administration needed to reroute flights and slow air traffic as a result of some air traffic controllers calling in sick at two major East Coast air traffic facilities.
“When you have fewer people on the job, to be sure that you maintain the highest level of safety, you have to slow the system down a bit, and that is what is going on,” Mr. Valentine explained. He went on to note that the Northeast Corridor, which includes major cities including Washington, New York, and Boston, is one of the most densely concentrated air traffic management areas in the world.
When asked whether he felt privatization of air traffic services might have relieved some of the congestion, Mr. Valentine emphasized his confidence in the current system and the many professionals who manage US air traffic.
“We have the greatest air traffic management system in the world, and our FAA controllers do a fantastic job of making it as safe as it can be and, at the same time, as efficient as it can be,” Mr. Valentine said.
He went on to express his concern that many air traffic controllers, particularly those in parts of the country with a high cost of living, were being put under undue financial and personal stress by being expected to work without pay. On the same day that Mr. Valentine appeared on Fox Business, lawmakers finally reached a deal to end the shutdown, and workers returned to duty under normal operations.
Mr. Valentine discussed the impact of the government shutdown on commercial aircraft operations during the “After the Bell” show on the Fox Business network. A former FAA Administrator (Acting), Mr. Valentine has extensive experience managing aviation programs and overseeing air traffic management systems in the United States and abroad.
The Wicks Group is a multi-disciplinary legal and consulting firm that provides specialized services to clients with aviation and transportation-related interests world-wide. TWG advises countries across the globe on achieving their civil aviation development objectives, whether achieving compliance with standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) or establishing international best practices to foster economic growth.
For more information on TWG’s legal and consulting services, please contact Mr. Glenn Wicks at gpwicks@wicks-group.com.