FAA plan to terminate airport weather observers raises travel safety concerns – FAA plan to terminate airport weather observers raises travel safety concerns (WaPo)

Garry’s email

In the spirit of making Guv’mint less of a burden on its o’er taxed
citizens, the FAA has opined that traffic controllers can look out the
window as well as weather observers, so you only have to pay one of the
bunch.

But on a nice, hot, July afternoon along the Atlantic shore, with the
cumulonimbus topping off at 20K and warm air advection shooting up to
the tropopause, you think JFK/LGA/EWR  air traffic controllers will
have the time to plot developing wind shear? When fish-tailing planes
are keeping them – oh – somewhat preoccupied?

Sometimes, a little redundancy is OK.
FAA plan to terminate airport weather observers raises travel safety concerns
(Washington Post – Jason Samenow)
GRO

PS – On the other hand, if the air traffic controllers can’t cope,
they’ll just have to close airports more often, so airlines have to
pick up the tab on diverted equipment and crews, and passengers on the
cost of being at the wrong airport, so all of the money that FAA saves
gets spent in spades in the private sector. Plus some. I’m sure
everyone will be pleased…

Jon’s comment: