This should scare the hell out of anybody thinking of flying

I haven't flown in 20+ years. I've had 2 personal experiences on commercial airlines where "things went wrong".

Too many things can go wrong nowadays. Lack of pilot skills and experience, too much automation, outdated and overworked traffic control operations, shoddy maintenance, lackluster training on all levels, overall penny pinching policies that compromise safety. Combined with the general trend of today's workforce having lesser work ethics and judgement, NO THANKS.
 
My mother's friend was a European commercial pilot. He was trained back in those days by the US Air Force. He flew in Texas, and California. So, he was well vetted, viewed as a great captain by his airline and also used to the voices of American and other foreign Air Traffic Control Towers. Nevertheless, I remembered him studying his flight route and getting used to JFK Airport landings and gates prior to his first flight into JFK/NYC. I remember him telling me how fast these guys spoke and how quickly you had to move it!
There are several videos on Youtube about JFK air traffic controllers, one of them being the famous Kennedy Steve, now retired. It is hard when you have to give quick orders because of high traffic, and also hard to understand if you are a foreign pilot. And yes, when you listen to these videos, it will scare you out of flying!
 
The OP doesn't scare me out of flying, I'm sure all Pilots are used to fat talkers in the control towers...

What puts me off flying is the horrendous Airport experince the long...long queues for passport control...horrible..

I haven't flown since Covid, prior to that I was flying about twice a year .... and now they've changed check-in.. and passport presentation.. so if I fly this year which I might do.. it's gonna be a bit confusing for me...
 
Yes, most of the process at the airport now is electronic and you have to do it all yourself. No more lining up at a counter waiting for an airline rep to service you and your luggage. Now checking in and getting your luggage tag + boarding pass printed is done at a stand alone electronic terminal, as is the front end of the immigration process where you again complete a customs/immigration form on a terminal before you see an agent, if you're pre-clearing at your departure airport. You can skip to boarding pass print process if you've checked in early with the airline directly because you'll have it on your phone's airline app. after you've checked in the day before.

In terms of getting through security & immigration check points, there are nomally apps for whatever airport you're departing from that you can download to arrange a "skip the line". This you show as you enter the security or immigration area and you get fast tracked to a shorter line.

Where I fly from they tell you to be at the airport 3 hours in advance of flight time for international flights. With the new electronic procedures and apps to shorten the line up process, I'm usually at my gate within a half hour of arriving at the airport so I end up sitting around for 2 1/2 hours twiddling my thumbs :(
 
From the video in the OP, it seems like the potential for human error is enormous. Granted, most of air traffic control tasks are just routine, but one mistake -- as we saw on the 22nd at La Guardia -- can mean death and destruction. I couldn't imagine being under that kind of stress on a daily basis. It's no wonder they're having trouble filling positions.

There's got to be a better way.
 
MrPants said:
Yes, most of the process at the airport now is electronic and you have to do it all yourself. No more lining up at a counter waiting for an airline rep to service you and your luggage. Now checking in and getting your luggage tag + boarding pass printed is done at a stand alone electronic terminal, as is the front end of the immigration process where you again complete a customs/immigration form on a terminal before you see an agent, if you're pre-clearing at your departure airport. You can skip to boarding pass print process if you've checked in early with the airline directly because you'll have it on your phone's airline app. after you've checked in the day before.

In terms of getting through security & immigration check points, there are nomally apps for whatever airport you're departing from that you can download to arrange a "skip the line". This you show as you enter the security or immigration area and you get fast tracked to a shorter line.

Where I fly from they tell you to be at the airport 3 hours in advance of flight time for international flights. With the new electronic procedures and apps to shorten the line up process, I'm usually at my gate within a half hour of arriving at the airport so I end up sitting around for 2 1/2 hours twiddling my thumbs :(
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that's what happens with me.. I book in online.. and choose fast track security, and it means of course like you, I'm literally trying to kill time for a couple of hours, which I hate.. because it makes a it a really long day.. even if it's only a 3 hour flight... then you have process at the other end..

In Spain it's almost seamless to get through passport control when arriving there... the exact opposite happens in the London airports... horrible long queues, with miserable snappy staff... children crying, babies sceaming in the long passport control queues... because we've been there for ages,
 
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hollydolly said:
that's what happens with me.. I book in online.. and choose fast track security, and it means of course like you, I'm literally trying to kill time for a couple of hours, which I hate.. because it makes a it a really lon day.. even if it's only a 3 hour flight... then you have process at the other end..

In Spain it's almost seamless to get through passport control when arriving there... the exact opposite happens in the London airports... horrible long queues, with miserable snappy staff... children crying, babies sceaming in the long passport control queues... because we've been there for ages,
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Oh, for sure it's not a pleasant day both going & coming back! Crowds of idiots, undisciplined screaming children and being cooped up with people who don't understand the concept of bathing & using deoderant :sick:
 
Flying has never been any safer than it is today. The last fatal air crash in the U.S. was in 2009 and was ruled to be caused by pilot error. Today, every big passenger jet has at least one additional backup system. All planes must have at least two radios, but some planes carry three. There are two pilots in the cockpit. One is the flying pilot and the other pilot takes charge of the communications and monitors the gauges and systems checks.

Keep in mind that English is the international language across all countries, U.S. pilots flying into foreign countries can expect to talk with a controller that speaks English. Foreign pilots flying into the U.S. must be able to communicate with the controller in English.

The communications on the radio are not too difficult to understand. We listen for “our” flight to be called out and then listen to the instructions that follow, or in some cases, we will jot them down because all instructions must be repeated back to the controller.

In the case earlier this week with the plane striking the fire truck that had permission to cross the runway, there is a rule that the truck must stop at the solid yellow hold line and get permission again before crossing the active runway to prevent a runway incursion. In the video I saw. I didn’t think the driver of the fire truck stopped before crossing the runway.
 
bowmore said:
I flew for 50 years in Southern Calif. The highest traffic density in the country. There are 4 commercial airports; LAX, BUR,Ontario and John Wayne.
There are also dozens of small fields for private aviation.
I never felt uncomfortable flying in that area.
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Have you ever flown into San Diego at the international airport?
 
I hate flying due to the noise and discomfort, plus, I feel like a sardine crammed into a can with dozens of other sardines. I wish we had high-speed rail here.
 
Ever since my sister was killed in a plane crash in 1979, when the airliner she was on crashed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica, I have hated flying. However, I try to calm myself while flying by telling myself that the odds of both a sister and a brother being killed in separate plane crashes are extremely remote.
 
bowmore said:
Yes, it is quite exciting to fly lower than the buildings on final approach. Mostly, however, I flew into Montgomery Field because of passenger access.
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My first time landing in SAN, my Captain told me that the approach may be challenging. I was a bit surprised that the airport was located where it was. I made a lot of landings into that airport.
 
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