Daily Herald editorial

As an example of why government agencies should have some requirement to justify their actions and spending, the recent instances of air traffic controllers falling asleep on duty is un-paralleled. The Federal Aviation Administration has squeezed so hard for savings on an essential service that the service is almost useless; meanwhile, trillions of dollars are wasted on bridges to nowhere and theatrical “security” precautions.

This week, for the second time in as many months, an airport tower controller — on duty alone at night — was asleep when a medical flight tried to land. To be clear, there was little real safety risk in this case, or in the previous one at JFK Airport in New York. Both controllers were suspended. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that humans who work varied shifts are going to struggle to stay awake when they’re forced to sit alone, at night, with nothing going on. The blame doesn’t really lie with the controllers involved, but rather with the FAA which — until its mistake was recently exposed — tried to save a buck by creating ridiculous working conditions, assigning lone controllers to the night shift at some two-dozen towers nationwide.

The federal government is a system without accountability, and it will probably never be clear who decided — or how it was decided — that basic human biology could be ignored in making control tower work assignments. And this is, of course, just an example of how a vast federal bureaucracy makes decisions that are more about politics than about effective government.

As leaders try to bring federal spending into line with revenues, creating an oversight system that would provide agencies with a reality check ought to be Job One. Otherwise, no matter how much spending is cut, the results will be giant waste in some areas and foolish frugality in others — as the FAA has so aptly demonstrated this week.