President Donald Trump’s administration has begun firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration workers, upending the safety of millions of flyers during a busy travel weekend, despite four deadly plane crashes since he took office on Jan. 20.
In a statement on Saturday, David Spero, the head of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists AFL-CIO, said that “[s]everal hundred” workers started receiving termination notices on Friday evening. He added that the notices were sent “an ‘exec order’ Microsoft email address, not an official .gov email address.”
“We are troubled and disappointed by the administration’s decision to fire FAA probationary employees PASS represents without cause nor based on performance or conduct,” Spero said.
He added, “These are not nameless, faceless bureaucrats. They are our family, friends, and neighbors. They contribute to our communities. Many military veterans are among them. It is shameful to toss aside dedicated public servants who have chosen to work on behalf of their fellow Americans.”
The heartless move by the Trump administration comes less than three weeks after a passenger jet and a military helicopter collided near Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people aboard both aircrafts. An FAA report found that air-traffic control towers were understaffed at the time of the crash, but the Trump administration is hell-bent on upending the federal workforce all in the name of eliminating “waste.”
While the exact number of affected FAA workers is unknown, Spero said it’s “possible” that more workers would receive termination notices over this past weekend. He said affected workers might be “literally barred” from entering FAA buildings on Tuesday (after the federal Presidents Day holiday on Monday).
Elon Musk
According to the Associated Press, which spoke with one air-traffic controller, the impacted workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing, and navigational maintenance.
Since assuming the presidency earlier this year, Trump and his unelected co-president, Elon Musk, have set about swiftly and heartlessly slashing the size of the U.S. government. According to The New York Times, some 200,000 probationary workers, who do not receive the same protections as other federal employees, were among their first targets. But these firings are shortsighted and could have deadly consequences.
So far, there have been four deadly plane crashes in the United States since Trump took office. Before the Washington, D.C., crash, there had not been a major fatal crash of a passenger plane in the country since 2009. Nonsensically, Trump has insisted that diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the workplace were to blame.
“Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agency’s mission-critical needs. To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety,” Spero said. “And it is especially unconscionable in the aftermath of three deadly aircraft accidents in the past month.”
As the administration continues its downsizing efforts, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on social media that officials from Musk’s SpaceX team would visit the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center, in Warrenton, Virginia, on Tuesday. Later in the week, Duffy said he would travel to Oklahoma to visit the FAA’s air travel control center in the hopes of learning “more about their education and how we can ensure that only the very best guide our aircrafts.”
In addition to the latest firings at the FAA, the Trump administration sent a mass email to roughly 2 million federal workers last month, offering them the option to resign but be paid through the end of September. About 75,000 workers accepted the offer.
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