Heckuva job, Petey! Amtrak riders stuck on board for 37 hours reassured that they weren't hostages

Boy oh boy, those hits keep a-comin’!

As you may have heard, there was an outage overnight affecting the FAA safety system, leading to all domestic flights getting grounded. But don’t worry — Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg took swift action to … tell someone else to determine root causes and recommend next steps:

FAA has determined that the safety system affected by the overnight outage is fully restored, and the nationwide ground stop will be lifted effective immediately. I have directed an after-action process to determine root causes and recommend next steps.

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) January 11, 2023

Phew! Bold leadership when we need it most.

Prediction: the root cause will be greedy airline executives. Also, racism. https://t.co/82V9WHY8wF

— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) January 11, 2023

Nah. That would be silly. And Pete Buttigieg is not a silly person. No sir.

I wonder which European country Buttigieg is tweeting this from. https://t.co/Blx0DLcnUR

— Kate Hyde (@KateHydeNY) January 11, 2023

Hey, that’s not very nice. He’s doing the best he can, OK?

Have you considered the possibility you’re bad at your job https://t.co/Qv6jWGGWLD

— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) January 11, 2023

Bad at his job? Why, whatever would give you that idea?

Oh, wait. You must be talking about stuff like this. Apparently Pete Buttigieg’s ineptitude spans multiple modes of public transportation:

Meanwhile on one of Mayor Pete's precious trains…. https://t.co/mov6XQhHpD

— Speaker of the House Nero (@Adventure_Nero) January 11, 2023

BREAKING: A travel nightmare is unfolding right now on Amtrak. Passengers on the Auto Train have been stuck on board for 29+ hours, currently sitting in the woods in rural South Carolina. Passengers called the local police saying they’re being held hostage.
LISTEN: pic.twitter.com/Jog4PHYT7G

— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) January 11, 2023

Correction: The train left the DC area on Monday evening at 5pm.

— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) January 11, 2023

After 37 hours and a pizza delivery to the train in Savannah, Georgia– The Auto Train has arrived at its destination in Sanford, Florida.

— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) January 11, 2023

Hey, the passengers got where they were going eventually. And they got free pizza!

Woof https://t.co/0l7WQP4Vfz

— Andrew Staroska (@astaroska) January 11, 2023

everything is fine https://t.co/891oadDs0t

— Dr. Richard Harambe (@Richard_Harambe) January 11, 2023

Or at least as fine as it can be with Pete Buttigieg in charge.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Net Zero by 2050 is gonna SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK https://t.co/Ag4WQPmxoJ

— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) January 11, 2023

Looks like we’re in for a real treat. It’s gonna be lit, y’all. Just you wait.

And if you’re using any form of public transportation, you should plan on waiting very often. Maybe even for 37 hours. Though hopefully there’ll still be pizza, at least.

I’ll just drive my car if I travel because apparently Mayor Pete’s stint at controlling travel isn’t going well. https://t.co/1T0LWoX2u1

— Just Mindy 🐊 (@just_mindy) January 11, 2023

Well, for what it’s worth, he’s meeting all our expectations so far.