Crisis in the Skies?? FAA Shortages, Firings, and a Reckless Rush to Overhaul

[New Republic] Trump’s Firing Spree at FAA Was Even More Terrible Than He Admitted
The cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration go far beyond what was previously known.

The Trump administration’s Federal Aviation Administration firings are much worse than they initially let on.

Politico has reported that the 130 terminated FAA workers last month included critical employees who directly and indirectly reinforce all of the FAA’s moving parts to keep passengers safe. The Trump White House had previously stated that no “critical” employees had been fired.

Concerns about aviation safety have been compounded since 67 people were killed when a passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter at DCA outside Washington, D.C., in January.

“I would argue that every job at the FAA right now is safety critical,” aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti told Politico. The firings “certainly [are] not going to improve safety — it can only increase the risk.”

One recently fired employee was an aeronautical information specialist who helped plan airplane routes, or “highways in the sky.”

“Air traffic controllers cannot do their work without us,” the employee said anonymously to Politico on Wednesday. They went on to state that their fellow FAA workers were “targeted just as a senseless line item on an Excel sheet.”

“To put it frankly, without our team ... pilots would quite literally be flying blind,” they said.

The Rolling Stone’s Andrew Perez reported that other cut positions included “lawyers who help keep drunk or reckless pilots out of the skies,” “employees who track potential new flying hazards like cranes,” and staffers in charge of medically clearing pilots.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the White House provided no actual specifics regarding what positions were emptied. Rather, they chose to talk down to Americans who just want to be assured that their next flight will land safely.

“No air traffic controllers nor any professionals who perform safety critical functions were terminated,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, directly contradicting Politico’s reporting. The FAA is already understaffed.

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...faa-contract-conflict-of-interest-1235279656/
Musk’s SpaceX Lands FAA Contract — Conflict of Interest Be Damned
The billionaire fired hundreds of FAA employees. Now the agency is testing Starlink to help manage U.S. airspace

Days after Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency cut hundreds of jobs at the Federal Aviation Administration — including critical safety roles — his company, SpaceX, has secured a contract with the agency to use Musk’s Starlink satellite internet to help manage U.S. airspace. Yes, it’s a massive conflict of interest.

According to Bloomberg, which first reported the deal, the billionaire approved the shipping of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA last week. In a statement released Monday, the FAA wrote that one such terminal is already being tested “at its facility in Atlantic City and two terminals at non-safety critical sites in Alaska.”

The partnership between Starlink and the FAA also throws into limbo a $2.4 billion contract awarded to Verizon Communications in 2023. The deal tasked Verizon with providing “telecommunications, information management services, and other capabilities to support its continuing mission of providing the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world,” for a 15-year period. A representative from Verizon Communications did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

“The Verizon system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk,” Musk claimed on X on Monday, but provided no evidence to support the assertion.

 

he is the biggest government mooch and for some reason trumpers love him for it.