Staffing cuts and uncertainty over a potential federal government shutdown later this month is putting further pressure on the already-strained U.S. air traffic system, aviation leaders warned Tuesday during a Congressional hearing on bolstering the beleaguered U.S. Air Traffic Control system.
Industry experts say DOGE cuts to FAA staff have weakened an already-strained air traffic control ... [+]
Aviation leaders criticized DOGE for firing approximately 400 Federal Aviation Administration employees in mid-February, telling the hearing that a potential government shutdown in mid-March could threaten the country’s aviation safety.
“Haphazardly eliminating positions and encouraging resignations are having a demoralizing effect on the workforce,” testified David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents 132 terminated FAA workers who installed, maintained, and certified air traffic control and national defense equipment.
Spero added “no assessment had been done” before the firings to determine their impact on aviation safety.
Although air traffic controllers were exempted from DOGE firings, additional pressures on them puts them in a “very vulnerable position and as risk to the system,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, testified.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy announced a “hiring supercharge” for air traffic controllers last week, but Nicholas Calio, CEO of lobby group Airlines for America, said: “It's not going to be enough. The numbers don't add up.”
Daniels pushed back on Elon Musk’s call last Thursday for retired air traffic controllers to return to work, pointing out that ATCs who were hired back would have to repeat the training process and would potentially bottleneck the training of younger controllers “that we need to actually invest in and sustain the system going forward.”
DOGE did not respond immediately to Forbes’ request for comment.
As a federal government shutdown grows more likely, the U.S. aviation industry has been in the spotlight following the Jan. 29 midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter at Reagan National airport in Washington, D.C., which killed 67. That was followed by the Feb. 17 hard landing of a Delta flight that flipped in Toronto—which has drawn increased attention on the decades-long shortage of air traffic controllers and the FAA’s outdated technology. While ATCs would be required to work without pay during a shutdown, such an event would almost certainly impact the FAA’s ATC training program. During the 35-day government shutdown during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2018 and 2019, the FAA had to close its training academy and “missed its original hiring target by over 500 trainees,” Daniels testified.
45,000. That’s how many flights the FAA manages every day in the U.S.
“I think recruitment right now is sort of a difficult thing,” said Spero. “I don't really know anybody out there that's dying to become a federal employee right now, given all the attacks that are happening on them, and that's what we're hearing from our folks.”
Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson accused Musk of a “glaring conflict of interest,” claiming the billionaire is trying to “coerce” the FAA into canceling its internet contract with Verizon and replace it with his own company, Starlink, “without competitive bidding.” He added that “the folks who are left at FAA are being leaned on to replace Verizon, which won the contract, and award the $2.4 billion contract for the air traffic control system to the man who's threatening to fire them. This kind of corruption and cronyism is breathtaking, and it's a threat to the safety of the public.”
Musk Reportedly Planning New Starlink Deal With FAA—Raising New Conflict-Of-Interest Concerns (Forbes)