The Wall Street Journal is pulling back the curtain on a job that demands perfection—and, some say, punishes honesty about mental health. Its latest piece is centered on 38-year-old Seattle-area air traffic controller Joshua Adams, who died by suicide last fall after years of hiding his depression from the Federal Aviation Administration, fearing he'd lose the medical clearance required to work. His widow, Davy, describes a profession where chronic understaffing, long shifts, and strict disclosure rules leave controllers afraid to seek help. "Babe, I can't talk to anybody," Davy says Joshua told her at one point when he was struggling. "Please don't talk to anybody about how I'm feeling. I don't want to lose my job."
Current and former controllers, medical experts, and others tell the Journal that Joshua's story isn't an outlier. The controllers union estimates 12 suicides in 2024 alone—roughly eight times the national rate—though FAA records show fewer, underscoring how little is formally tracked. Controllers say when it comes to their issues, they "bottle it up" rather than risking career-ending evaluations or medication bans. The FAA says it encourages treatment and will continue to regularly update its rules. A proposed Mental Health in Aviation Act, meanwhile, would bring about broader reforms. Airport Technology has more on the "silver lining" of what initiatives are already in progress on this front. More here. (Airline pilots face the same dilemma.)
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