Dead Bang -- More Musings

My friend, John Carr, has taken his famous blog -- The Main Bang -- off the air (so to speak.) I don’t know why and he asked that we don’t ask. I’m never one to pry (and don’t particularly like priers) so that’s that. I hope all is well and I hope he’ll be back one day. (Stating the obvious -- there will be a lot more dead links on my site.)

On the other hand, the FAA has ensured another will take his place. As predicted, Todd has a lot more free time on his hands these days (courtesy of the FAA) and he’s putting it to good use. He has been adding many more posts to his blog -- Vanity Fair Musings.

I don’t think I will hurt Todd’s feelings by saying the neither he nor I have the gift of gab that John has. But we’ve each been able to hold our own and make a contribution all these years. If you take the time to look, you’ll notice a substantial amount of research that Todd has already done in the last few days. I, personally, am looking forward to hearing more from him. Todd worked as an Approach Controller. I was an EnRoute (or Center) Controller. It will be nice to have his additional expertise and attention in the blogosphere.

As the days slip by and events unfold, I want you to keep in mind that none of us -- John, Todd and I -- had to retire. We left because we wanted out of the FAA. We loved being air traffic controllers as much as we hated working for the FAA. I suspect that, in no time at all, Todd will be hearing from ex-FAA managers, reporters and policy wonks too -- all seeking his opinion on how we can build a better FAA and a better National Airspace System.

It all reminds me of a saying by a different (and better) politician from Texas. One the Bush Administration seems to have never heard.

Don Brown
July 15, 2008