Talk:Kennedy Steve

Ground controller
I think it should be at least mentioned that he was a ground controller, aircraft traffic control with planes on the ground, in taxi. This should certainly be clarified regarding the Lufthansa incident, as the pilot was not requesting get out of an aircraft in flight, or even moving for that matter. The pilot, while taxiing, asked Steve if he could "go off the sequence to the left", stop presumably and "go outside of the aircraft and close it (the door) if that is possible".

I would do this myself, but not sure of the correct term to use. Is it "ground controller", "ground traffic controller", "air traffic ground controller", "ATC ground"...? --DB1729 (talk) 11:35, 12 May 2020 (UTC)


 * ✅. Best I can tell from my own research, Steve's position is most commonly called a "ground controller". From what I gather, a ground controller is one of several positions an ATC may be tasked to do, sometimes solely, sometimes multiple. An ATC might be employed as a tower controller and another employed as a ground controller, and they might never do any other job. Others may be required to fill both roles, say at smaller, low-traffic airports.


 * Anyway, with not response in over a week I went ahead and clarified the intro. --DB1729 (talk) 03:24, 21 May 2020 (UTC)


 * Noting that, in the interview with "Captain Joe" (see reference #1), he specified that he rotated through all ATC positions at JFK (tower, clearance/delivery and ground), often during the same shift. Nonetheless, the majority of his published ATC exchanges are when he was controlling ground movements, so that is what he is best known for. In the same interview with "Captain Joe", he stated that it was the ATC position he enjoyed most.  Risker (talk) 05:06, 22 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Thanks for that and your edits. I was not aware he rotated through all positions regularly. I'm also relieved to see my edit back in May was worded to not exclude the possibility that he spent as much time in the other roles. --DB1729 (talk) 16:19, 22 November 2020 (UTC)