In this episode of The Black Box Aviation Podcast, we’re hitting turbulence from every angle—literally and figuratively. Broadcasting from a hotel room I paid for myself thanks to a contract that still doesn’t include training accommodations (because we’re "in base" 🙄), I dive into two stories that prove aviation never takes a day off.

First, I recap a Delta flight that was hotter than the surface of the sun thanks to a deferred climate control MEL. Add in Alabama Slammers, five lav runs, and a captain call that should’ve gone the other way, and you’ve got a cabin experience that makes Spirit look luxurious.

Then it’s training travel drama—Known Crewmember inconsistencies, TSA power trips, and the slow death of standardization. Sound familiar? Thought so.

We also unpack the massive ATC meltdown at Newark: from equipment outages and walkouts to United slashing flights and Secretary Duffy throwing hiring bonuses around like confetti. Plus, I’ll tie in a low-altitude P-3 Hurricane Hunter transmission that reminded me just how wild this airspace really gets.

And if that’s not enough:⚠️ DCA's back in the headlines after a Blackhawk disrupted arrivals—again—sending two airliners into go-arounds. This follows the recent flyby fiasco. Is it staffing? Is it airspace complexity? Is it both? We break it down.

Oh—and it’s my 10-year wedding anniversary. I missed my son’s baseball game… but at least I flew over it.

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