Many of the nation’s air traffic controllers are hitting retirement age, so the FAA is recruiting in…YouTube? MySpace? Craig’s List?

Yes, according to a new CNN report, the FAA’s Robert Sturgell is targeting a new generation of recruits — including recent high school grads — and that’s where they have to advertise:

“We trying to connect with them, where they are.” — Robert Sturgell, FAA

Apparently this is making some current controllers a little nervous, this targeting of teens. Can they handle the “life and death moments”? Well, of course they won’t be handling anything without extensive training.

Any air traffic controllers out there reading this? I’d love your take.

This week I seem to be Mr. Popularity (but don’t worry, it won’t go to my head). The reason for this is all the grim airfare news — airline losses, predictions of new rate hikes, and more “extras” that passengers have to pay for.

The networks asked me to do some analysis, and here’s the schedule:

• This evening, ABC’s World News will credit FareCompare with datawe provided
• Thursday night, I’ll be on the CBS Evening News
• This week, an interview I did with NBC will be featured in stories appearing on local NBC stations across the country

If you get a chance to watch, drop me a comment; I’m always interested in your feedback.

There are not too many TV programs I recommend; but I think you will be interested in this one.

Today (Thursday, April 3) at about 10am EDT, tune in here for the live webcast of a congressional committee hearing aptly titled, “Critical Lapses in FAA Safety Oversight of Airlines: Abuses of Regulatory Partnership Programs’.”

I expect you’ll see some uncomfortable-looking airline executives and FAA officials getting sliced-and-diced by congressional critics.

The critics are not happy about an allegedly “cozy relationship”. Just click “more” and I’ll explain.

I was interviewed for a CBS Evening News story today. The subject: the recent airfare hikes, and how they will affect the flying public.

(In case you missed it, here’s a link to the story).

One of the things I mentioned in the interview, is that deals are getting harder to find — you may have to dig a little deeper for them — but they are still out there.

The main advice I give these days is, shop for airfare a little earlier (maybe, a lot earlier) than you’re used to.

Maybe you’ve already seen my Top 10 “worst” list. Now for the good news: I actually found enough good things for a BEST list.

Think you’ll enjoy this. Just click “more” to see the entire list.

And if you think I’ve left anything out, please, tell me in the comments section.

A couple of weeks ago most of the day at Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport with a crew and producer from 20/20 chatting about a variety of travel myths.

The premise was myths in the form of a true/false quiz (they posted on their site early last week with the answers from the interview now).

We also posted a page on the site with further explanation on the air travel myths topics.

The video for the segment is posted (click more to the right) and take a look at our new “First Class Airline Ticket” blog for more details on discounted first class airfare…

CBS Evening News came out to the FareCompare.com offices today to do a spot on one of my favorite subjects, “Thanksgiving Travel“. You can watch the broadcast by clicking the image. It was amazing — they shot the footage at noon and it showed up 5 hours later on the evening news.

I’ve had a lot of media people contact me about holiday travel, and I know their viewers are concerned about crowds, delays, and all the other hassles that come with the season. I hope these news segments and my tips will help make things a little easier. Holidays are supposed to be fun, remember?

They also shot a preview video which is interesting look behind the scenes of the evening broadcast. You can watch the preview on CBS News First Look.