Wall Street Journal
• Andrew Tangel
The FAA is conducting a broader review of alleged “early shoves,” in which air-traffic controllers leave work before the end of their shifts, after finding the practice at LaGuardia before a deadly collision. The inquiry raises questions about staffing, oversight and controller accountability at major airports.
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The FAA is moving to dismiss two air-traffic controllers who allegedly left their shifts early before an Air Canada Express aircraft collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in March, according to people familiar with the matter. The collision was fatal.
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The FAA is conducting a broader review of alleged “early shoves,” in which air-traffic controllers leave work before the end of their shifts, after finding the practice at LaGuardia before a deadly collision. The inquiry raises questions about staffing, oversight and controller accountability at major airports.
Wisk has begun building an eVTOL vertiport at California’s Hollister Airport to support flight testing of both piloted and pilotless vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft. The facility will provide dedicated infrastructure for advancing Wisk’s air-taxi development and autonomous-flight testing program.
Venezuela plans to reopen Caracas International Airport in the late third quarter of 2026, according to Commercial Aviation News. The development would restore access to the country’s primary international gateway, with potential implications for airline schedules, passenger connectivity and airport operations.
New Civil Aviation Authority data shows UK airports reached a record quarterly passenger total, even as traffic at Heathrow and Gatwick contracted and Gulf-related travel fell by more than 40%. The figures point to a significant redistribution of demand across the UK airport network.
Cologne Airport is tightening approach and departure procedures after a Ryanair Boeing 737 encountered a military drone during an armed forces exercise. The incident has prompted closer coordination between civil aviation operations and military activity around the airport’s runways.
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Police have referred seven South Korean transport ministry officials to prosecutors over alleged efforts to conceal that a localizer was unfit before the 2024 Jeju Air crash. The accident killed 179 of the 181 people aboard, making the officials’ potential accountability a central safety and oversight issue.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson is calling for chronic air traffic controller shortages at Sydney Airport to be addressed, saying flight delays affected around 60,000 passengers in July alone. The disruption highlights the operational and customer impact of persistent capacity constraints in Australia’s busiest aviation market.
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