Members unicorn Posted 7 hours ago Members Posted 7 hours ago I heard on the news that 5 air traffic control employees took 45 days off of "trauma leave," blaming stress over equipment failures at that airport. That airport already suffers from understaffing, and this action will obviously necessitate more overtime and pressure from those who remain, as well as more danger to the public. I find this behavior reprehensible and irresponsible. Although I felt stress as a primary care physician (as well as real personal danger) during the COVID-19 pandemic, it never occurred to me to ditch my fellow health care professionals and take 45 days off due to stress. At the very least, I feel those employees should be required to get daily mental health evaluations to assess their levels of stress and determine their ability to return to work. It seems all highly unprofessional in my view. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/newark-air-traffic-control-lost-contact-pilots-least-twice-source-says-rcna205126 "...While the FAA has not said how many controllers are out on medical disability for stress, the controller who spoke with NBC News said the control tower is struggling to keep up with the flights because four experienced controllers and a trainee are now on leave. Replacing them will take time, an FAA spokesperson said, because any certified controller that applied or volunteered to move to the to the Philadelphia TRACON that guides planes into the Newark airspace would have to do additional training at the FAA's air traffic control training center in Oklahoma City. After which they would be required to do on-the-job training in Philadelphia. On average, it takes about a year and a half to be certified as an air traffic controller in any facility, the spokesperson said. The FAA moved the controllers who are responsible for aircraft arriving and departing from Newark from a facility on Long Island to Philadelphia last year. The move was meant to reduce the workload of the controllers in that facility who were also handling traffic for New York City’s major airports. United CEO Scott Kirby said Monday the Philadelphia TRACON “has been chronically understaffed for years.”...". https://nypost.com/2025/05/08/opinion/faa-workers-dont-need-phony-trauma-leave-after-newark-airport-disaster/ "The Newark Liberty International Airport mess just keeps getting more alarming: Now it turns out that an insane leave policy for air traffic controllers is adding to the chaos. Yes, controllers can take 45 days off to handle alleged “trauma” caused by … equipment failures. Yes, preventing plane crashes is a high-stress job, and it’s surely freaky when your radar cuts out — but that’s not trauma, and treating it as such is deeply irresponsible. One, it’s yet another major intrusion of therapy culture into everyday life, in which the slightest adverse event gets magnified into a life-altering disaster that requires endless healing time. Two, it’s literally putting other people’s lives in danger...". vinapu 1 Quote
