Aviation-Safety

FAA Announces 10% Air Traffic Reduction at 40 Airports Due to Shutdown

| Importance: 8/10

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on November 6, 2025, that the Federal Aviation Administration would implement a 10% reduction in U.S. air traffic across 40 airports in the coming days due to severe air traffic controller shortages caused by the ongoing government shutdown. The …

Sean Duffy Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Controllers Department of Transportation faa air-traffic-control government-shutdown aviation-safety federal-workers +1 more
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FAA Reduces Air Traffic by 10% at Major Airports as Unpaid Controllers Face Staffing Crisis During 40-Day Shutdown

| Importance: 9/10

The Federal Aviation Administration announced it would reduce air traffic by up to 10% at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports as the government shutdown—then in its 40th day—created a staffing crisis among air traffic controllers working without pay. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford reported …

Federal Aviation Administration Bryan Bedford Sean Duffy government-shutdown aviation-safety essential-workers infrastructure-crisis worker-exploitation
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FAA Finally Grounds 737 MAX After 51 Other Countries Act First, Exposing Regulatory Capture

| Importance: 9/10

The Federal Aviation Administration finally grounded the Boeing 737 MAX on March 13, 2019, three days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash and only after 51 other countries had already banned the aircraft. China acted first on March 11, followed by Indonesia, Singapore, India, the European Union, …

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Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 Crashes Due to MCAS Malfunction, Killing All 157 Aboard

| Importance: 10/10

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing all 157 people aboard from 35 countries. The crash was caused by the same MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) malfunction that downed Lion Air Flight 610 five …

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Lion Air Flight 610 Crashes Due to Boeing 737 MAX MCAS System Malfunction

| Importance: 10/10

A fatal aviation disaster revealing critical design flaws in Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft. The crash of Lion Air Flight 610 exposed systemic issues in aircraft design, maintenance, and pilot training, resulting from a malfunctioning Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). …

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FAA Safety Official Ali Bahrami Leaves for Aerospace Industries Association During Boeing 737 MAX Development

| Importance: 9/10

In August 2013, Ali Bahrami, who led the FAA office overseeing Boeing aircraft certification, departed to join the Aerospace Industries Association. This move epitomizes regulatory capture, as Bahrami had been instrumental in pushing for increased industry self-regulation. Former FAA engineers …

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FAA Delegates Safety Certification Authority to Boeing Through Organization Designation Authorization Program

| Importance: 9/10

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) formally establishes the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program, delegating unprecedented safety certification responsibilities to aircraft manufacturers, specifically Boeing. This regulatory capture mechanism expanded the scope of …

Federal Aviation Administration Boeing Corporation Aircraft manufacturers FAA certification officials Aviation industry lobbyists +2 more regulatory-capture faa-boeing self-certification aviation-safety institutional-capture +1 more
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