NOTAM, Thank You Ma'am!

The "Notice To Air Missions," or NOTAM, system, which is supposed to notify pilots of abnormalities in air traffic, went down due to a computer error this past week and the outage is being blamed for the all of the grounded flights that caused so much havoc for air travelers - which is to say, most travelers, as air travel is the only way to get around thanks to lack of investment in other transport modes.

But the country hasn't invested very much in air travel either. The NOTAM system itself is outdated, relying on old computer mainframes, and the Federal Aciation Amdiisntiaorn's entire system is running on antiquated technology.  

A country that pries itself on a robust tech industry can't seem to bring its transportation system out of the 1970s.  You know, the old Steven Maginnis would have written his congresswoman demanding more investments in rail, air, and highway transport with an emphasis on rail.  The new Steve can't be bothered because he doesn't care anymore. 

COVID may be easing, but, given our hapless transportation network, I still think I'm better off staying the hell at home.