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Letters: AIR TRAVELERS, YOU CAN REST EASY

FOR AIR-traffic controllers like me, this is the busy season. Luckily, the year so far has been a good one for air flight. As you and your families fly on vacation, here are three reasons to feel better about air travel this year:

FOR AIR-traffic controllers like me, this is the busy season. Luckily, the year so far has been a good one for air flight. As you and your families fly on vacation, here are three reasons to feel better about air travel this year:

1. More controllers are on the job: The number of fully certified air-traffic controllers increased by 3.9 percent this year.

2. Runways are safer than ever: The number of serious runway incidents is down 72 percent since 2008. Last year, there were only six serious incidents. That's just 0.12 per million flights.

3. Major steps have been taken to reduce controller fatigue: There are now at least two controllers on duty at all times. Schedules adjustments have been made, allowing for more rest between shifts, as well as increased fatigue-awareness and training.

Happy Holidays!

Don Chapman

Facility Representative

Air Traffic Control Tower

Philadelphia

Throwing Iraqs

I'm glad President Obama is bringing our troops home. We need to focus on our own problems here in the United States instead of what's going on in Iraq. We're probably going to rebuild that country, and it makes me sick because we should be rebuilding our own country with more jobs. The Iraqi war has cost the American taxpayers over $800 billion. I always thought that a war was supposed to help a country's economy. This war, started by George W. Bush, has done nothing but made our economy even worse.

Carlton R. Manley

Philadelphia

Size does matter

The advertisement on the top of a Bounty paper towels package says "10 = 15," which means that the 10 rolls are so big that they equal 15 rolls. No, they don't - they equal 10 rolls. A half-gallon of ice cream is now just 1 1/2 quarts. When you put a new roll of toilet paper in your bathroom, isn't there a lot more room on the roller? The width of the roll has shrunk. A gallon of cooking oil is now 101 ounces, 27 ounces less than it used to be. They say that 50-years-old is the new 40. No, it's not - it's 50. When it's 35 degrees outside they say it feels like 32 degrees. You have to add in the chill factor. When it's 90 degrees outside they say it feels like 94 degrees. You have to add in the heat index.

Why can't we just say what things are? It's less confusing.

Anthony Zajko

Glenolden