By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,
First, there was a blackout at the Newark airport that left air traffic control agents in the dark for a dangerous 90-seconds. Secondly, thousands of flights surrounding Newark airport have been canceled or delayed over constant system failures.
One of the problems is that airlines and airports are understaffed.
To cure the longstanding problem, President Obama lowered the standards for the FAA Academy. It was designed to help minorities. It made things worse because it attracted people who were not fit for the program. Now nearly 50% of the people who enter the program quit. A staggering waste of resources for both the government and the individual. Furthermore it made the staffing crisis worse.
This is the exact solution Oregon applied to its abysmal graduation rate. The liberal politicians simply addressed the problem by voting to lower graduation standards. Once you lower academic standards, these under-prepared students go on to fail in college in greater numbers. Furthermore, they are stuck taking remedial classes which further pulls them behind and drives up their cost.
We noticed the irony that as Oregon lowered graduation standards, they also kept their strict limits on who could attend a public chart school (where students have a higher chance of succeeding).
Also, at this exact moment, Oregon is considering two Kotek bills that would lower the standard for what qualifies as a registered sex offender. They wish to lower the standard in order to deal with the backlog of 18,000 sex offender cases that have not been processed. You can guess the impact that this will have.
Portland experienced the experiment for low standards when they stopped enforcing minor traffic violations as a way to achieve more equity. The end result was a record-number of traffic fatalities.
This is a warning to Oregon from Newark. Don’t lower standards, neither in school nor in traffic fines , nor in criminal sex offenders. It is a recipe for disaster.
Additional lessons from airport failures
In addition to lower educational standards, the FAA and control towers rely on outdated technology. According to a report from ABC 7, the recent outage was caused by “a fried piece of copper wire that sparked a temporary radar and communications blackout for air traffic controllers.” This incident has highlighted a larger issue: a shortage of trained air traffic controllers. Many are taking advantage of the 45-day leave permitted under the Federal Employees Compensation Act due to the stress from this traumatic event, as stated by a union representative. This raises an important question: How outdated and unreliable is our technology in airport control towers?
In a New York Post article, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on Fox News to discuss the critical issues affecting our infrastructure. He remarked, “We have really old infrastructure in America; it hasn’t been updated in the last 30 to 40 years.” During the live interview with host Laura Ingraham, Secretary Duffy acknowledged the fragility of the infrastructure and criticized the Biden administration for its failure to modernize it. He also pledged to restore public confidence by committing to a complete system overhaul, including telecommunications, radar, and overall infrastructure updates. Duffy mentioned that he is in discussions with President Trump regarding these plans.
It’s not just the Trump administration that sees the significant problems associated with this outdated system. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has also recognized the issue and called for a full investigation by the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General. He stated, “The FAA is really a mess… We are using 1990 technology in 2025.”
Portland International Airport (PDX) is vital for commerce, which raises two critical questions: How outdated is our air traffic control technology, and if a similar situation arises, do we have enough qualified personnel to replace those who may take a 45-day leave or even resign after such an event?
