Remember when the left was pointing the finger at the Trump administration, blaming the president for the shortage of air traffic controllers?
As it turns out, that issue stems back to former President Joe Biden and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Trump administration Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy recently made an appearance on the New York Post‘s “Pod Force One” podcast, where he told host Miranda Devine that in 2023 the Biden administration scrapped the top testing threshold for applicants looking to get into the academy that trains air traffic controllers.
The pre-Biden system saw candidates who scored 85 percent on the Air Traffic Skills Assessment put in the “best qualified” category. Under Biden, anyone who scored above 80 percent was put into a new “well qualified” category.
“They lowered the standard from 85 percent to 80 percent to be best qualified … to get these young people into the academy,” Duffy told Devine.
“What happened was, they had a substantial washout rate, 30 percent-plus,” he said on the consequences of the change, “because they couldn’t do the work.”
The Biden administration’s categories for applicants were “well-qualified” above 80 percent, “qualified” between 70-79.9 percent, and “not referred” for those scoring below 70 percent.
Essentially, Biden and Buttigieg were lumping in less qualified applicants with more qualified ones, creating one larger category in hopes of getting more students through the door and into the field, but as Duffy said, the dropout rate went up.
If dropout rates from the academy were higher under Biden, could this be the reason we are now dealing with a shortage of air traffic controllers?
According to the Federal Aviation Administration website, the academy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, takes several months to complete. The timing seems perfect that after a change in 2023, we were really seeing the impact of Biden’s decision just as President Donald Trump came back into office.
This seems more likely than the left’s explanation that Trump‘s federal cuts are to blame.
The Transportation secretary mentioned changes now being made to improve this system: “best qualified” are those who score 90 percent or higher, “well-qualified” applicants score between 85 and 89 percent, “qualified” applicants score between 70 and 84 percent, and those “not referred” score below 70 percent.
According to the Post, Buttigieg commented earlier this year on the matter, saying, “We did not change the rigorous standard for becoming a certified air traffic controller.”
“Those claiming otherwise are mistaken or lying. We did increase funding and training, and grew the ATC workforce after years of declining numbers, including under Trump,” he said, taking a swipe at Trump.
Considering all the information laid out here, Buttigieg and Biden did make changes that lowered standards. Imagine making a 100 on a test and getting an A, then a fellow student who scores an 80 also gets an A.
You’re both A students despite that massive discrepancy.
Its not hard to see the problem with that.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.