Michael Goodwin: Transportation Secretary Duffy’s call for more cash was off key. Money alone won’t fix the FAA.

Detailed summary

Hardware failures caused thousands of flight disruptions as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requested $50 billion for FAA network upgrades.

The late Howard Rubenstein was the best public relations executive I have ever known. His foundational advice to his corporate and political clients facing a crisis was captured on a small plaque in his office.

It read: “If you always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said.”

The first time I saw it, I laughed out loud and, with a smile, he nodded and said, yes, that’s what I’ve learned and what I believe.

Howard and his wisdom came to mind in recent days as I watched federal officials try to reassure the nation after the grounding of aircraft stranded tens of thousands of Americans at airports and disrupted the travel plans of millions.

The problem for officials, especially on Friday when late afternoon delays started without warning and quickly cascaded, was that they didn’t know what was happening and why.

Still, they had to appear in public to at least try to calm the contagious outrage and anxiety. The only good news is that they didn’t hit the panic button and try to convey a sense of certainty they didn’t have.

Instead, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security director Markwayne Mullin confessed they couldn’t say with full confidence what was happening nor could they predict when the crisis would end.

The truth was far from comforting, but they nonetheless did the right thing by admitting the limits of what they knew. Had they exaggerated their knowledge to project a certainty they didn’t have, they would have made a bad situation worse and jeopardized their jobs and reputations.

Duffy, who appeared a bit rattled Friday night, said the disaster likely was caused by the failure of “old hardware that went down” and affected air traffic controllers at regional hubs across the country.

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