Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday that his agency had lost its way under former President Joseph R. Biden and now is “back on mission.”
Mr. Duffy said the number of air traffic controllers has plummeted across the country and that the problem was exacerbated by the Biden administration’s focus on DEI programs and academies shut down during COVID.
“We need more young people coming in, and again, you can’t focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion when you hire air traffic controllers,” Mr. Duffy said on “Fox News Sunday.” “You focus on the best and the brightest.”
“Some people like to have this conversation around equity, but if it is your pilots, your air traffic controllers, you want the best, you want the brightest protecting you and your family,” he said. “That is what we are going to do at the department for every air traveler.”
Mr. Duffy was confirmed to his post days before a regional carrier jet from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a Black Hawk helicopter on a routine training flight near the District. There were no survivors.
Without evidence, President Trump immediately blamed the crash on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The New York Times reported that an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report on the collision said staffing in the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.
On Sunday, Mr. Duffy said the nation has not had “enough air traffic controllers for a long time” and is focused on fixing the staffing problem. He also assured viewers that air travel is still the “safest mode of transportation.”
Mr. Duffy said the Biden administration “lost sight of the mission of the department,” citing its focus on social justice and changing the name from cockpit to flight deck.
“We have no place for anything other than the best and the brightest,” Mr. Duffy said. “We are back on mission.”
“I don’t care about your race, your religion, your sexual preference, [we just want] the best and the brightest,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.