Morning Brief: Dangerous Air Traffic Controller Shortage, & Christianity Growing Throughout World

A massive shortage of air traffic controllers causes delays, cancellations, and insecurity. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney discusses tariffs and U.S. statehood with President Donald Trump in an Oval Office meeting, and a surprising rise in Christianity is occurring in the U.S. and Europe, fueled by young converts.

It’s Wednesday, May 7, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.

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FAA Modernization Efforts

Topline: The Trump administration is rushing to modernize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after years of chronic understaffing and a string of accidents and near misses on runways.

We all heard about the deadly crash in D.C. a few months back when a military helicopter collided with a commercial jet – but every week at airports around the country, there are roughly a dozen close-calls that largely go unreported. These incidents are referred to as “runway incursions” by the FAA.

In the last few months alone, two planes at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were forced to abort landings at the last minute due to a helicopter in restricted airspace. A few weeks before that, at the same airport, two planes clipped wings on a crowded runway. Similar incidents have been reported this year at Chicago Midway, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. And on April 29, air traffic controllers at Newark International experienced a systems outage that knocked out their radar and left numerous planes essentially flying blind. That incident came amid existing air traffic controller shortages and equipment failures at Newark, which have led to 14 straight days of FAA-imposed delays on flights in and out of the airport.

Part of the problem is an ongoing worker shortage – the FAA says it needs 3,500 air traffic controllers to meet its target goal. For months, existing controllers have been stretched thin, working mandatory overtime shifts and six-day work weeks.

To combat those shortages, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launched a new initiative to offer new incentives to keep experienced controllers from retiring and fast-track certifications for military veterans. But according to Duffy, the biggest problem plaguing the FAA is outdated technology. Many of the administration’s systems and computers are from the 1980s — many controllers still rely on floppy disks — and because the FAA tech is so old, Duffy says it’s difficult to find technicians who know how to operate on its systems. He’s now calling for Congress to allocate tens of billions of dollars to fund a revolutionary overhaul of the FAA.

Some Democrats say the Trump administration is to blame – they argue the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project’s cuts have impacted the FAA’s preparedness. While the Trump administration cut around 400 FAA jobs, that amounts to less than 1% of the department’s workforce. According to a Transportation spokesperson, nearly all of those let go were probationary employees who’d been at the agency for less than two years.

Tariff Updates With Canada, China

Topline: Canada’s new prime minister sits down with Trump after weeks of tough talk on tariffs and Canada becoming the 51st state.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived at the White House on Tuesday for talks on trade, as well as the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. Carney is one of dozens of world leaders seeking a new trade agreement with the U.S. Canada is the second-largest trading partner for the U.S., behind Mexico, and the U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner by far.

“We are the largest client in the United States,” Carney said at a joint press conference. “We have a tremendous auto sector between the two of us and the changes we made have been helpful. You know, 50% of a car that comes from Canada is American. That’s not like anywhere else in the world.”

“We want to make our own cars,” Trump responded.

Meanwhile, another significant U.S. trade partner, China, is starting to feel the impact of ongoing tariffs. According to Goldman Sachs, U.S. tariffs could wipe out 16 million factory jobs in China. Workers are already upset over missed wages and layoffs and have even begun publicly protesting. It’s not clear how much influence this public discontent has on the communist government in Beijing.

A breakthrough in the tariff standoff between the United States and China emerged on Tuesday evening. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are poised to meet with Chinese officials in Switzerland over the weekend to discuss trade and economic matters, according to their respective agencies. China reportedly confirmed there will be talks.

Christianity On The Rise

Topline: A surprising shift is taking place across the religious landscape of both the U.S. and Europe. According to new data, Christianity is seeing a notable rise in conversions, particularly among young adults.

New data from the Pew Research Center shows that Christian identification in the U.S. has seen a 12% uptick since 2022, with Catholicism up 10%. In some dioceses, the rise is much more pronounced. The Diocese of Fort Worth, for instance, reports a 72% jump in converts just from 2023 to 2024. Meanwhile, when we look at Protestantism, particularly evangelical and nondenominational branches, it’s up 14% overall, and many pastors are reporting that they’re seeing record attendance and baptisms.

This same trend is playing out in Europe, with countries like France and Germany reporting a 15% increase in Catholic conversions and a 10% surge in Protestant affiliations, especially among Pentecostals and Baptists. Catholic pilgrimages, like the Chartres Pilgrimage, have seen record attendance — more than 15,000 participants last year, mostly under 35.

The majority of these converts aren’t older generations returning to faith — they’re young adults, disproportionately young men, reversing decades-long trends where women were more religious. Sociologist Dr. Ryan Burge has written that young men are rejecting the “feminization” of liberal churches, seeking instead the structure of traditional worship.

Sociologists argue that our culture is experiencing a “post-secular” moment – the rapid pace of political developments has left many people feeling unmoored. And also, conservatives tend to be more religious, and as the country has shifted to the right, this has coincided with this more muscular, public Christianity. For countries like France, England, and the U.S., where citizens feel their cultures are being erased by mass immigration, there also seems to be a desire to bolster the Christian character of their nations.