Corrupt? Sure. But also directly dangerous? And how! FAA has done careful, long testing /study of new tower-communication system. Now a rush to switch to system that *just happens* to be owned by Mr. Efficiency himself, Elon. (Has he even been to an ATC facility? Probably like Vance re Ukraine) - ThreadSky

jfallows.bsky.social • 1 day ago

Corrupt? Sure.

But also directly dangerous? And how!

FAA has done careful, long testing /study of new tower-communication system. Now a rush to switch to system that *just happens* to be owned by Mr. Efficiency himself, Elon. (Has he even been to an ATC facility? Probably like Vance re Ukraine)

Reposted from Asawin Suebsaeng

new this morning from @andrewperez.bsky.social and me www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Comments

sadworld.bsky.social•1 day ago

https://youtu.be/YsIntuxmXf0?feature=shared

mmom1315.bsky.social•1 day ago

Wow, I thought that Elon was providing Starlink at no cost to the FAA. See his post on X. Looks like this is a big scheme to get more money through his own company and to terminate a contract with Verizon that was valid. Can anyone say, "conflict of interest"!

samlow.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Soon to be Mr Surveillance himself

alwaysthinkhow.bsky.social•1 day ago

Where is the competitive bid if the FAA wants to use some satellite communications services? There is lots of choices besides the unreliable Starlink. https://thenetworkinstallers.com/blog/starlink-competitors/#:~:text=1.,compete%20directly%20with%20Starlink's%20offerings.

flyfishgirl.bsky.social•1 day ago

Dangerous corruption. Americans will die. No one will hold Elon accountable.

johns3785.bsky.social•1 day ago

Going fast and breaking things is not a good model for improving the FAA or other public safety concerns.

bunshonokai.bsky.social•1 day ago

Little concerned about a system of communication defeated by cats on a cold day

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/10/starlink-satellite-dish-cats-elon-musk

teawithray.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I have to fly domestic next month. I am still wondering if I should take it or drive the more than 1000 miles.

themontgomery.bsky.social•19 hours ago

It's probably my Midwestern pedigree speaking, but: drive, easily.

Even with food and bathroom stops, 1,000 miles is barely a double shift. And will cost a fraction of a domestic flight nowadays.

teawithray.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Yeah!! Good advice. At this point even cross country drive is preferable to a domestic flight.

themontgomery.bsky.social•17 hours ago

For sure. Even before COVID made the airport experience even less pleasant, it was like 4 hours dealing with the departing airport, and then another 2 hours in the arrival airport, plus flight time, so anything less than 1200 miles was automatically a driving destination for me. YMMV.

brklynlib.bsky.social•1 day ago

😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

eunicecycle.bsky.social•1 day ago

And what could go wrong? What if Musk has a hissy fit about something and turns Starlink off, as he's threatening to do to Ukraine?

kelleymacs.bsky.social•1 day ago

It seems like this will be a problem with any future administration that would try to take power away from Musk or prosecute him

eunicecycle.bsky.social•1 day ago

More reason to not give any power to an unelected ketamine addict. For national security if nothing else.

newqueuelure.bsky.social•1 day ago

https://bsky.app/profile/newqueuelure.bsky.social/post/3lj3jjbc56c2z

eunicecycle.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think the NYT should publish this.

cleverhandles.bsky.social•19 hours ago

They're too busy publishing opinions that the Trump admin is extraordinarily cruel to trans people, but the cruelty is insignificant because it affects so few people

clanghoff.bsky.social•16 hours ago

No cruelty is insignificant.

cleverhandles.bsky.social•16 hours ago

Ha, well, does the NYT have news for you.

prsf04.bsky.social•1 day ago

The sad fact is that this administration is not bright enough to see this.

jbigs.bsky.social•1 day ago

How are the airlines not fighting this? Air travel in the US will crater when the FAA is destroyed by elon.

katiedid72.bsky.social•1 day ago

When the Dems win back the Congress- and they will - in 2026, the Congressional investigative committees will be restored, and will have a field day with Musk' corruption. Do I see jail in his future? (I wish!)

dj1au.bsky.social•21 hours ago

If musk doesn't rig the elctions

simplykumquat.bsky.social•1 day ago

Same, Ben Franklin. Same.

smitty-76.bsky.social•23 hours ago

How is this unelected and self interested person continue?

thobert.bsky.social•16 hours ago

📌

pinkybum.bsky.social•1 day ago

Elon Musk is fucking dangerous. Remember he promised Tesla Full Self Driving would be able to drive from NY to LA with no interference by 2017! He should be no where near our aviation systems.

nowhere.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Btw can a president pardon a corporation?

antagonic.bsky.social•18 hours ago

well, corporations are people, so probably. but to pardon someone you'd have to at least intend to punish them in the first place, which I'm skeptical of

instantdogma.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Yeah, don't fly.

shoutingboy.bsky.social•1 day ago

When I think “safety and reliability” I think “Elon Musk company”

though that may be because of the chip he put in my brain

thomashansen.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Where were the signs etc…

wtfusa2025.bsky.social•1 day ago

That’s a red line. Congress, either fight, or bend over and lube up for more Elon and when Americans take things over, watch their wrath with you. It will be ugly.

joshtpm.bsky.social•1 day ago

honestly this is hell for aerophobes

thegreer.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Not great for those of us who fly planes for a living, either.

m33gs.bsky.social•19 hours ago

also not great for flight attendants with over 50 years of seniority like my mom

dsilbizzy.bsky.social•16 hours ago

I’m not gonna lie: I’m going to have to add something to take into account their gutting of NWS. If I can’t rely on the forecast (especially around AK) I’ll need to up my margins for fuel to account for their less accurate forecasts.

mattpb.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Those who take them for a living might find it time to make a new living!

mvthomster.bsky.social•1 day ago

"which seat is the safest seat on a plane?" making a comeback

dpod.bsky.social•1 day ago

My wife (bonafide aerophobe) has already canceled a trip we had planned for May because she's afraid to fly. Her sister did the same. Can't be alone.

rouroboros.bsky.social•1 day ago

I don't mind flying, and I'm considering skipping a big-number college reunion I was looking forward to rather than trust my family's lives to Musk's FAA.

proggrrl.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I am probably not flying again any time soon over this situation. Maybe 5 years from now.

kreplachbro.bsky.social•21 hours ago

still probably safer than driving until they raise national speed limit to 100, make seat belt mandates illegal and require installation of Tesla software in every vehicle.

sherpacato.bsky.social•20 hours ago

RFK Jr & Musk working to reduce the population.

karenswilcoxphd.bsky.social•1 day ago

hell for us all as we are all now aerophobes. In solidarity

reeseourso.bsky.social•1 day ago

And spouses of commercial airline pilots🫤

anchodojo.bsky.social•1 day ago

I’ve spent my entire life telling people about how air travel is statistically the safest form of travel. I don’t think that’s true anymore with these obvious Musk conflicts of interest. Guess I’m driving from now on.

groundtheplanes.bsky.social•21 hours ago

This is why we launched our boycott this weekend (see pinned post etc.) and hope folks will join and spread the word. Based on this thread, it's clear a lot of people are informally boycotting anyway—might as well formalize it and direct the outrage at airlines and Congress.

seaofcalm.bsky.social•1 day ago

Also was thinking how air travel was the safest, but now…. yeah, not so much anymore

morrisnormal.bsky.social•1 day ago

It's still the safest and by a gigantic margin

I don't think any of you understand how dangerous driving is

roberts44163082.bsky.social•13 hours ago

If you had 40,000 deaths from plane crashes people would be appalled, but that's just another year for automobiles.

anchodojo.bsky.social•1 day ago

I do understand that. I also work in aviation, and know that the reason that this is the case isn’t because air travel is inherently safer, but because A LOT of work and attention has been made to make it so. Now that some of this is being undone, it’s fair to question the future of aviation safety

lpdoak.bsky.social•1 day ago

Over the years that's exactly what I've become and I have no clue why. I used to have to fly for work on a monthly basis too.
But now, with all this going on....so much for getting that fear under control.🫢

annaluna.bsky.social•23 hours ago

It’s gonna make me into one.

braak.bsky.social•1 day ago

Not sure how much I like Musk's approach of "just start doing it and fix problems with iterations" approach to uh...planes.

bakerblue.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Well the first step is destroying what you’re going to start doing iteratively..

craigerflights.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Compile and run it until it crashes is sometimes a productive software development strategy, but only because the cost of iteration is negligible and the consequences of failure are not dangerous. It’s a fucking stupid way to debug hardware.

banjofiend.bsky.social•1 day ago

Does he not have a sense of self preservation considering how much he flies?

braak.bsky.social•1 day ago

he appears to have a very strong sense of self preservation but it's coupled with a profound ignorance of how literally everything works.

grandpadavid.bsky.social•1 day ago

Like why his plane doesn't fly in a straight line?

...into headwinds, directly over a military firing range, between waypoints designed for safety...

courtney01.bsky.social•1 day ago

Musk is taking FULL ADVANTAGE of information ... he has NO RIGHT TO HAVE.

And he is taking FULL ADVANTAGE of his relationship with Trump ... to drive business to himself and his companies.

THIS IS ILLEGAL. THIS MUST STOP. MUSK MUST GO.

CONGRESS, WHERE ARE YOU? VOTERS DO NOT LIKE THIS.

anothercollette.bsky.social•1 day ago

Boooooo!

pham60.bsky.social•1 day ago

Criminal violation of anti deficiency act which prohibits spending money not appropriated by Congress.

waterloo45.bsky.social•1 day ago

Musk don't care what happens to Tesla he wants Star link now investor's better get out

dj1au.bsky.social•21 hours ago

We need Elon to fix the corruption in gov😏

labboypro.bsky.social•1 day ago

"Move fast and break things" guy picked a helluva platform for his next experiment.

hacker78.bsky.social•1 day ago

Graft and more graft. Disgusting

dbdant.bsky.social•1 day ago

Anyone who gets sucked into this corrupt effort needs to write a memo to file describing any conversations, and then file it away (at their attorney's office) for their future defense evidence. Obvious to me that Trump/Musk will throw everyone else under the bus when the poo hits the fan.

krystolla.bsky.social•1 day ago

I did not cry, sweat, and bleed over DO178B regulations while writing software for this jackass to waltz in and pretend FAA approval is a fucking stamp.

burtonad.bsky.social•1 day ago

One word; plunder.

squindar.bsky.social•1 day ago

It's a blatant, corrupt cash-grab. Elon thinks starlink is a drop-in replacement for this? Bitch, please. https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ang/offices/tc/library/storyboard/detailedwebpages/fens.html

soozee3.bsky.social•1 day ago

No. No more contracts for Musk. Trump is an idiot. He is basically making us pay for this and the only one benefiting is Musk.

steveknapp.bsky.social•1 day ago

Franklin is sitting there thinking, “Guess they can’t.”

skymogul.com•13 hours ago

Verizon will have a good cause of action to sue for their contract being canceled and awarded to SpaceX outside the competitive bidding process.

fool.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Move fast with unstable infrastructure

7pillarwisdom.bsky.social•1 day ago

I'm booked on a flight from PHX to ELP next month on SouthWest. This is my first flight in 2 1/2 years. (Before retiring I used to fly 6 times or more a year).

Wondering if I should cancel it and drive.

katiegail79.bsky.social•22 hours ago

For that distance, I would drive. I'm supposed to visit my daughter in a few weeks, and the drive time is 30 hours each way. So I have to fly but I really don't want to.

7pillarwisdom.bsky.social•20 hours ago

I have another 3-4 hours drive after ELP

kakotechnia.bsky.social•22 hours ago

One of my favorite academic niches is the scholarship surrounding the shift from paper flight strips to digital systems because it was such a deliberate move. For ex, sociologists observed that while computers *could* rack the flights automatically, physical racking by the ATC caught more errors

curtosis.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Yes! Virtually no field has more detailed human-factors research than aviation, and air traffic control specifically.

elliottlusztig.bsky.social•1 day ago

What are the airlines making of all this?

And what about pilots and flight attendants unions?

kimberleyfox.bsky.social•1 day ago

A lot of airline pilots are part of this douche bag’s fan boi club. I don’t think ALPA will shit about it. The flight attendant’s union (AFA) probably won’t either.

sjbsmama.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Flight Attendant associations have already been on the front lines protesting Musk’s takeover thankfully. MANY pilots are also not happy as they are far more concerned with, y’know, surviving their flights than anything they may feel about Musk otherwise.

groundtheplanes.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Yes, the @afacwa.org has been great, Sara Nelson has been great - we still need other unions (pilots etc.) speaking out, and for the demands to escalate to match the situation. We've put together some email templates for unions, as well as airlines + Congress, at our site. Hope they help!

pintoman99.bsky.social•1 day ago

Starlink has major issues. You can google it.

jdoealiasmike.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Corruption on full display. These guys don't even pretend to hide it

pnwguy9.bsky.social•18 hours ago

A good piece of evidence that president's musk and trump never intended to "save money", unless it adds to our country's misery or their bulging pockets.

truejrq.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I've been a professional pilot for 37 years. Randomly gutting the NOAA and FAA are unconscionable decisions being made by unqualified people. Improve service, and efficiency, but not at the expense of safety and due diligence

springtomind.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Pray they don’t do it

beverlyschultz.bsky.social•1 day ago

I thought musk said starlink would not cost the govt

pdambournet.bsky.social•1 day ago

Do not ascribe to mere corruption what may be more logically explained by nefarious intent.

Such as building private kill switches at the most critical interfaces between the administrative state and civil society.

azgentleguy.bsky.social•1 day ago

I am thinking that Verizon and its numerous lawyers will be in court very soon for breach of contract. Especially with time, effort and money thrown into acquisition activities for this contract. And remember, Muskrat can turn this off and on at will

uofagrad97.bsky.social•16 hours ago

I have to fly soon, and I’m afraid.

northsidemick.bsky.social•1 day ago

If Musk gets control of FAA systems, every flight will be a game of Russian Roulette.

cuuixsilver.bsky.social•1 day ago

Both literally and figuratively. 😡

beckybill.bsky.social•1 day ago

Would someone please knock that hat off his head! Please!

jock101.bsky.social•1 day ago

Fed consultant 30 years. Baffled how you can legally sole source $2bil without competition. But..then...no IG..no DOJ backstop...maybe GAO but Congress directs them...and you know them

elchapablo.bsky.social•22 hours ago

This is what I can always point to when people question my accusations of corruption (if you can believe that): no bidding, no competitors, no oversight, no proven track record in the industry, and a major conflict of interest.

jock101.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Never had a sole source. Battled it out via proposals w/ 5-12 competitors. I see this and roll my eyes. Isn't this the abuse part?

brandogarcia.bsky.social•1 day ago

ATCs should go on strike over this. This isn’t a matter of pay or benefits but whether planes are more likely to crash.

Trust me, Trump won’t get a Reagan 1981 moment out of that.

lauracovington.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yes, they should.

pegnymi-geologia.bsky.social•1 day ago

It's the 'move fast and break things' ethos on full display. What could go wrong? It's just airplanes full of people.

justvisiting74.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yep.

Our systems, built up over centuries, have protected us.

Corruption inevitably results in moral and systemic breakdown.

spage.bsky.social•1 day ago

Verizon already had the job ..

lauracovington.bsky.social•1 day ago

The FAA should strike over this. THAT will certainly get people’s attention even certain ass-kissing senators in Congress.

zaddylonglegs.bsky.social•1 day ago

"test it in prod"

swegringo.bsky.social•1 day ago

That's a bad idea on so many levels 😑

rdsalter.bsky.social•1 day ago

Terrifying.

dave1491.bsky.social•1 day ago

Someone needs to gut muskrat.

hold-on-loosely.bsky.social•1 day ago

Lets get a Tesla truck tie musks leg to the back bumper and take it for a spin dragging him , untill the bumper falls off in a half mile , let’s use a Honda civic or Toyota Prius , it will get the job done my efficiently

judyprincz.bsky.social•1 day ago

Do we even have a Congress? We can’t rely on Republicans but they have a slim majority. Can the Democrats at least make some noise? Do anything?

matthewshirts.bsky.social•1 day ago

Huge scoop! Best journalism seems to be coming from @Wired @rollingstone.com @teenvogue.com @wired.com

kenkiyama.bsky.social•1 day ago

Hasn’t been to an actual ATC facility, but a couple of the DOGE dudes told him there were a couple of control tower scenes in a movie called “Airplane!” they watched once.

“Move fast, break things, and ignore those burning airplane that crashed.”

greyback.bsky.social•1 day ago

Color me shocked that Congressional Republicans have been uncharacteristically silent. Classic example of Money being confused with Merit.

we-are-toast.bsky.social•1 day ago

The South African NAZI will be able to shutdown the entire air traffic control system in a flash whenever his comrade Putin tells him to. Technically it's a horrible system relying on hundreds of unstable satellites that can literally cause a cascade of crashes and render low earth orbit unusable.

fullerray.bsky.social•1 day ago

Where is the competitive BID

kitchengigolo.bsky.social•1 day ago

Hurry!

Don't think!

Just give him our money.

It's the way. (And you dare not piss him off.)

wmaroney.bsky.social•1 day ago

My aunts starlink goes out often, did last night during the game…we weren’t traveling at 400 knts

margaretsheehan.bsky.social•1 day ago

Maybe we shouldn't fund a communications system from a guy who has shown that he will turn it off on a whim.

dcarmyvet.bsky.social•18 hours ago

This scares the hell out of me. We've had contractors offer “better” FAA interfaces. They fail the HCF (Human Computer Interface) tests. We need humans to make decisions for which algorithms don’t exist. There is’t TRUE AI, it's assistance and suggestions. Don’t give up HITL (Human In The Loop).

zathras5.bsky.social•1 day ago

There are YouTube videos about air traffic control. Elon Musk may even have seen more than one.

tinisoli.bsky.social•1 day ago

If he gets away with this the airlines should expect a very quiet year, assuming people even have money to go anywhere or anywhere to go to (crippled NPS) as the economy tanks and consumer confidence plummets.

jcabraham.bsky.social•1 day ago

“Find funding.” So Musk is making things less efficient and more costly. Soon there will be airline crashes, to boot.

stevestarr.bsky.social•1 day ago

Do American really understand how much power Elon has? He has his fingers everywhere, and if he decided to close down starlink for even a day, how much Chaos that would cause, nation wide?

linareed72.bsky.social•1 day ago

😞why? what is behind this? Want to find some money for someone find me enough to pay for my cancer treatments and surgery. The bills are adding up, the insurance companies now thanks to trump and elon are becoming harder and harder to deal with.

rlights25.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Why can't we arrest him. He is stealing our information!

clanghoff.bsky.social•16 hours ago

I dream of this too. But obvs he'd make bail without difficulty, get on a private aircraft and go somewhere he couldn't be extradited.
But that's not a bad scenario...

condor.bsky.social•16 hours ago

when the systems provides no avenues for justice, then justice must be done outside of it. how that happens and what that means, i leave to the imagination.