Air Travel Improvements You’ll Be Thankful For
By Sen. John Thune
We are entering one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. More than 80 million Americans are traveling for Thanksgiving this week. While most of them are packing up their cars and hitting the road, 6 million Americans will be boarding a plane in order to spend Thanksgiving with their loved ones.
I know a lot of people don’t particularly look forward to flying, and I get it. With our state’s unpredictable bouts of severe weather, South Dakotans are no strangers to flight disruptions. And our aging air traffic control system can cause disruptions as well. I know air traffic controllers are working hard every day to keep planes moving quickly and safely, but I also recognize they have to rely on technology that’s often decades old. Not to mention, we’re facing a shortage of controllers, which means controllers at a number of airports need to work longer hours and extra shifts to keep everything running smoothly.
These challenges were exacerbated during the recent government shutdown. Air travel was snarled from the beginning of Democrats’ shutdown, and by the time the shutdown entered its second month the Federal Aviation Administration had to order cutbacks in air traffic as a matter of safety. Fortunately, regional air service was preserved, so states like ours could continue to access air travel. I’m grateful to the controllers who were on duty and working without pay during the shutdown, and I’m glad that air traffic is back at normal levels today. Now we must return our focus to modernizing America’s air traffic control system for the long term.
This is something that has been a priority for the Trump administration and for Congress. Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill made a significant investment in technology improvements for the air traffic system, which will support the deployment of state-of-the-art technology to towers across America. The Trump administration is also working to hire and train new controllers to get the controller force back to full strength. And for our part, Congress remains committed to providing funding in order to hire 2,500 new controllers next year.
Upgrading outdated technology and bringing on additional controllers will make a big difference for the traveling public and for supply chains that rely on air cargo. It means maximizing efficiency without compromising safety. And hopefully it means less time on tarmacs and in terminals and more time spent with loved ones.
Like many families, one of our Thanksgiving traditions is going around the table to say what we’re thankful for. For me, being with my family is at the top of that list. I know how important it is to make sure that all Americans are able to spend the holidays with their families and not stuck at an airport.
We won’t fix the system overnight, but thanks to the Trump administration and our continued efforts in Congress, we are making progress toward a state-of-the-art air traffic control system for America. I’m glad that the system is back at full strength after the shutdown, and we’re working to make it stronger every day.
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I will be thankful when the Republicans are out of power
Whether the Republicans are in or out of power will not change my mind about American Airlines.
Yawn
Anonymous @5:55 pm probably liked it when the Secretary of Transportation was a DEI appointment, whose only knowledge of transportation was how to ride a bicycle, who took a month off for paternity leave to play with babies during a supply chain crisis, and who bragged about a passengers’ bill of rights the airlines just laughed at.
Things were just great with Buttigeig running that department, weren’t they? And you want to return to that??? Biden would have done better appointing Mary Poppins; in addition to child care, she knew how to fly.
At least they weren’t dangerous like the TRUMP appointees.
Sean Duffy is being criticized for suggesting that passengers dress respectably when flying.
I do not consider this dangerous..
I have sat next to people with bare hairy arms and legs and didn’t like it.
The airlines already have a dress code in their contract of carriage. Read it sometime. Oops you’re a Republican you don’t or can’t read.
I dress classy when flying but that is because I am usually flying into Boston or Baltimore and those cities are fancier than Sioux Falls. Also you never know whom you will run into while changing planes.
You can tell who is going to Florida; they dress for the beach and look ridiculous. I have never seen anyone denied boarding, half-naked people board while wrapped up in blankets. It is very strange.
Well good for you
I will be thankful when leftists and Trump haters are in the dustbin of history.
Won’t it be great then to live in a fully-authoritarian country? Many people are saying it’s going to be great.
That “technology improvement” is just a way to put billions of taxpayer dollars in the pockets of Elon Musk.
ok then he can use it to rescue stranded astronauts
somebody’s gotta do it
Translation: “We’re completing the new staircase we’ve been building for years. It’ll be the biggest and best staircase ever. Never mind that the rest of the building is on fire, and the fire fighters are outside playing keep-away with the fire hydrant valves.”