It’s not much of a secret that Pete Buttigieg would like to be president. He’s young, personable, and wicked smart. Buttigieg is a likable blend of pragmatic liberal and technocrat, with a gift for making leftish policies sound like only so much common sense, as in his trademark call during the 2020 primaries for “Medicare for all who want it.”

He’s also gay, which would make him a different sort of breakthrough figure for those uncomfortable cutting in line ahead of a Black woman. A recent tally by The Washington Post of the most likely Democratic presidential nominee in 2024 placed Buttigieg second, just behind Joe Biden and ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris.

In recent months, Buttigieg has been all over the media, with eloquent speeches on everything from abortion rights, to a speech at Morgan State celebrating HBCUs, and one marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day. But what about his day job?

Several of these speeches, of course, did discuss aspects of transportation policy. But not a single one, and precious few of his actions as secretary, addressed the single biggest consumer frustration amenable to action by Buttigieg and his staff—the price-gouging and deteriorated service by the airlines.

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This dereliction has been the subject of complaints by several consumer groups, as well as the major airline unions. Though Congress deregulated the airlines in 1978, the Transportation Department and its FAA retain a great deal of power to crack down on airline abuses.

For instance, FAA inspectors have the authority to demand records on crew sufficiency. “The airlines know that their crews are not adequate to handle their existing flight schedules,” says William McGee, an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher who worked for seven years in flight operations management for the airlines. “That’s why we see so many last-minute cancellations.”

McGee recently joined the American Economic Liberties Project after longtime investigative work for Consumer Reports on airline abuses. “The airlines are knowingly scheduling flights, when there is high probability that the flight will have to be canceled,” McGee adds. “It’s just not acceptable that a passenger gets a text in a taxi on the way to the airport that the flight has been canceled. It’s not like the pilot got sick, or there was a thunderstorm. This is the predictable result of inadequate staffing.”

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