Aviation Writing
The Brutal Realities of ICE Air
ICE Air is no less brutal than the agency’s heavy-handed field operations. But its brutality comes in the form of scale, speed, and efficiency — attributes that you probably want in a commercial airline, but not in an increasingly weaponized tool of law enforcement.
The Humiliating History of the TSA
There’s no evidence two decades of pat-downs and shoe removal have made travelers any safer — so why does the theater of airport security persist?
How Trump Let Boeing off the Hook for the 737 MAX Crashes
If regulators won’t step in and force Boeing to change, then it will continue to prioritize profits over safety — the only rational choice in a consequence-free environment. This might be a good bargain for its shareholders, but not for passengers.
The Newark Airport Is About to Become Everyone’s Problem
The entire aviation system rests on a knife’s edge between safe operations and potential disaster. The smallest disruption can throw the entire system into chaos — putting thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and the reputation of American aviation as the safest in the world in harm’s way.
What’s the Deal With All These Airplane Crashes?
Safety depends on collective action by airlines, manufacturers, regulators, and legislators alike. Right now, you don’t have to worry that another airplane will randomly fall out of the sky tomorrow. But in a few years, it’s possible that a bunch of airplanes start crashing for the same reason, because someone decided that pursuing their individual goals was more important than upholding their responsibility to everyone else.
Redline
The story of the 737 Max is ultimately the story of the Darwinian business cycle, where mature companies like Boeing face constant threats from new products, new competitors, and the search for new growth. Sometimes this motivates them to new heights of innovation and progress. Other times, it prompts them to pull everything back in the name of cost-cutting.
The Ancient Computers in the Boeing 737 MAX Are Holding Up a Fix
A brand-new Boeing 737 Max gets built in just nine days. In that time, a team of 12,000 people turns a loose assemblage of parts into a finished $120 million airplane with some truly cutting-edge technology: winglets based on ones designed by NASA, engines that feature the world’s first one-piece carbon-fiber fan blades, and computers with the same processing power as, uh, the Super Nintendo.
Cabin Pressure
The airline industry has always had its ups and downs, from recessions to gas prices to COVID-19. But when things get unstable, flight attendants are the first to feel the pain.