There is now a belated attempt to re-recruit and train new controllers. The only saving grace is the decline in tourist arrivals, not just from Canada and Europe but also increasingly from the rest of the world. Air cargo volume has dropped, too, as tariff uncertainty kicks in. For instance, DHL Express has suspended consumer shipments to the US worth more than US$800 ($1,037), while its parent company, Deutsche Post, cut 8,000 jobs.
In aviation, “Mayday” is an internationally recognised distress signal used by pilots to indicate imminent danger or a life-threatening emergency. It is derived from “m’aider” in French or “help me”. This call is transmitted to other aircraft or air traffic control, assuming air traffic control is connected.
Two 90-second outages happened last month at New York’s Newark Airport: First on comms, then on radar. Air traffic controllers were left feeling traumatised, and thousands of passengers were inconvenienced by cancelled and delayed flights. Perhaps the years of underinvestment, understaffing, and Elon Musk’s Doge cuts have caught up.
