{"id":1548532,"date":"2022-07-11T11:04:06","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T15:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1548532"},"modified":"2022-07-11T11:04:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T15:04:09","slug":"buttigieg-slams-airlines-for-flight-cancellations-but-rejects-key-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/buttigieg-slams-airlines-for-flight-cancellations-but-rejects-key-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Buttigieg Slams Airlines For Flight Cancellations, But Rejects Key Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbuttigieg-slams-airlines-for-flight-cancellations-but-rejects-key-reform%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1548532&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Transportation Secretary\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/pete-buttigieg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Pete Buttigieg<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0announced new investigations into\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/air-travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">airline<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0companies on Sunday but rejected the possibility of raising the mandatory retirement age for pilots amid persistent\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/labor-shortage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">labor shortages<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">During an\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/6309346765112#sp=show-clips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">interview<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0with Fox News, Buttigieg told host Mike Emanuel that his agency has \u201cjust concluded another ten investigations on airlines\u201d with respect to delayed and canceled flights, but has also \u201claunched another ten or so that we\u2019re going to pursue to make sure that the consumers and passengers are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Indeed, more than 3,000\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/over-3000-flights-canceled-in-two-days-amid-severe-weather-warnings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">cancellations<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0met passengers in June as a bout of extreme weather hit the Eastern seaboard; Buttigieg, therefore, asked executives to work on\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/travel\/article\/flight-cancellations-buttigieg-faa-airlines-performance\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">avoiding<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0cancellations during Fourth of July travel. Yet more than 1,800 cancellations\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/us-air-travel-conditions-improve-over-fourth-july-weekend-2022-07-05\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">occurred<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0during the holiday weekend.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 2007, Congress raised the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots from 60 to 65. Emanuel asked Buttigieg whether he would consider raising the age to 67 \u2014 a proposal that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/airlineweekly.com\/2022\/05\/senator-graham-may-propose-raising-u-s-pilot-retirement-age\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">reportedly preparing<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Buttigieg responded negatively.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThese retirement ages are there for a reason, and the reason is safety. I\u2019m not going to be on board with anything that could compromise safety,\u201d he replied. \u201cNow, what\u2019s clearly the case is we need to cultivate, train, and support a new generation of qualified pilots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As the number of air passengers plummeted in 2020 due to the spread of COVID, several airlines\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/06\/09\/airline-employees-wrestle-with-voluntary-separation-leave.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">offered<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0early retirement packages to their employees. Airlines are now attempting to hire more than 12,000 pilots, according to\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/think\/opinion\/pilot-shortage-start-ageism-rcna34831\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">NBC News<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, as roughly 5,800 pilots are reaching the age of 65 each year. In response, Buttigieg continued to stress the need to train younger aviators.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThe answer is not to keep the Baby Boomer generation in the cockpit indefinitely,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe answer is to make sure we have as many and as good pilots ready to take their place, to have a stronger pipeline. We\u2019re backing that up with FAA programs that support high school and college curriculum to get into aviation, and of course, ultimately, it\u2019ll be for the airlines and those employers to hire and retain excellent talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Airlines have also considered\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/u-s-airlines-desperate-for-pilots-consider-cutting-training-requirements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">decreasing training requirements<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in response to the shortage. Delta said in January that it would introduce signing bonuses and hike pay while removing the requirement for the completion of a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c\u2018While we feel as strongly as ever about the importance of education, there are highly qualified candidates \u2014 people who we would want to welcome to our Delta family \u2014 who have gained more than the equivalent of a college education through years of life and leadership experience,\u201d the airline announced. \u201cMaking the four-year degree requirement preferred removes unintentional barriers to our Delta flight decks.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Meanwhile, Republic Airways \u2014 a regional carrier for Delta, American Airlines, and United Airlines \u2014 sought government permission in April to cut the required number of training hours from 1,500 to 750 for its new pilots.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In the broader economy, the labor force participation rate \u2014 the percentage of people who either have a job or are actively looking for one \u2014\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/americans-continue-to-opt-out-of-the-workforce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">continues to lag<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0behind pre-recession levels.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c\u2018There are 755,000 fewer Americans employed today than prior to the pandemic, even as the population age 16 and over has increased by 4.2 million,\u2019\u201d Heritage Foundation research fellow and former U.S. Joint Economic Committee senior economist Rachel Greszler said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire last week. \u201c\u2018This has caused massive struggles for employers and is directly contributing to inflation, as employers have to pay workers more to do the exact same work they were doing before.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transportation Secretary\u00a0Pete Buttigieg\u00a0announced new investigations into\u00a0airline\u00a0companies on Sunday but rejected the possibility of raising the mandatory retirement age for pilots amid persistent\u00a0labor shortages. During an\u00a0interview\u00a0with Fox News, Buttigieg told host Mike Emanuel that his agency has \u201cjust concluded another ten investigations on airlines\u201d with respect to delayed and canceled flights, but has also \u201claunched another &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1547592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1548532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1548532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1547592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1548532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1548532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1548532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}