Crisis

David J. Danto

Travel thoughts in my own, personal opinion

eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD on

Crisis In Aviation – And In Common Sense – November 2025

I try to steer clear of politics when I write about travel. There’s enough turbulence in the skies without adding cable-news headwinds. But every so often, Washington finds a way to slam the beverage cart into my knees, and this week, I can’t ignore it.

Let’s start with the basics. America runs on mobility. Business travelers, families, students, and yes, even politicians who swear they’re “for the little guy,” all rely on the same national air system. It’s the circulatory system of our economy – and right now, somebody’s cutting off the oxygen because they’re losing a pissing contest.

The latest act in this government-funded reality show has both political parties locked in a classic playground “who blinks first” showdown. One side thinks starving the FAA of resources will teach the other a lesson. The other side thinks this kind of brinkmanship will make voters angry enough to change their minds. Spoiler alert: the only people getting punished are the ones sitting on the tarmac in seat 32B, next to a crying baby and an armrest hog.

We’re being told airlines must cut schedules by 4%, then 10%, then “Lord knows how much.” As if pilots and air traffic controllers were part of some twisted Hunger Games reboot – “May the odds be ever in your airspace.”

This isn’t politics. This is idiocy wearing a flag pin.

While our “leaders” are out there fighting for moral high ground, they’ve managed to trip over the low bar of basic governance. If the U.S. government can find billions to prop up a dictator overseas, launch missiles at fishing boats, and fund weapons that literally fly, maybe – just maybe – it can find a few bucks to keep the people who manage the skies employed and paid.

This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s a common-sense issue. And it’s astonishing how little of that commodity exists in D.C. these days. You’d think after decades of watching Veep, someone would realize that satire was supposed to be a warning, not a training video.

I’ve got travel coming up right after Thanksgiving, and like millions of others, I’d like to think I’ll actually make it where I’m going. But the folks heading out for Thanksgiving itself? They’re about to find out what happens when political brinkmanship meets airport chaos. Picture the Home Alone family sprinting through O’Hare – only this time, the flight at the gate has been cancelled, and the TSA confiscated Kevin’s juice box.

The real-world fallout goes far beyond just canceled flights. It’s delayed reunions, missed weddings, ruined business trips, and every poor traveler trying to rebook through an airline app that’s about as helpful as Clippy from Microsoft Word. When flights start getting canceled and the airline’s auto-rebooking algorithms go to work, seats get reassigned like musical chairs at 30,000 feet. Families who booked months in advance suddenly find themselves scattered across the cabin, strangers occupying their paid-for window and aisle spots. People end up crammed into middle seats on red-eye flights, miles away from their travel companions, praying the flight attendants still have wine – or even water – left by row 30.

And the airlines? They’re forced to refund fares, rearrange crews, and field customer rage for a crisis they didn’t create. For an industry already operating on thin margins, that’s like asking a pilot to land a 737 on one engine and half a runway – while Congress debates whether gravity is real. All this while near misses in the sky like this one at BOS become far less rare than before.

If our government can mobilize the National Guard because a few college kids are protesting in furry frog suits, surely it can dispatch a few military aviation experts to help keep civilian air traffic control functioning. Or better yet, just sit down with the other party, negotiate, and act like grown-ups. Radical, I know.

The pendulum of American politics has swung so far toward absurdity that it’s become a cartoon parody of itself. We’re one budget crisis away from seeing Yosemite Sam appointed Secretary of Transportation. The sad part? He’d probably do better than some of the real-life Looney Tunes running the show.

I don’t know how this standoff ends. But I do know pendulums have a way of swinging back – and when it does, the side playing games today may not enjoy the rules tomorrow. If you think starving air travel to make a point is clever, just wait until the other side is in charge and decides that “fairness” means a 90% tax rate on the wealthy and federal agents collecting everyone’s favorite firearms. If we want to see moderate government in the future, the moderation needs to start now.

Until then, fasten your seatbelts. The seatbelt sign is on, the captain has left the cockpit to post on social media while using a gold lavatory, and there are clowns arguing over who gets the aisle seat.

This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.

All image and links provided above as reference under prevailing fair use statutes.

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