Trump admin fires close to 400 FAA Employees

As part of the new administration’s drive for efficiency, the Trump administration fired almost 400 FAA employees at the start of the week. The news is bound to raise eyebrows, especially given the number of aviation related accidents we’ve seen at the start of this year.

FAA Employees Terminated

As per USA Today, the fired employees were all probationary workers who were hired or promoted during the last year. David Spero, the national President of the Professional Aviation Safety specialists, criticized the move. The union represents 11,000 FAA and Defense  Department employees.

The terminated FAA employees included workers who assist FAA technicians administratively and logistically, according to David Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union that represents about 11,000 FAA and Defense Department employees who support air traffic controllers.

He said environmental compliance workers, aeronautical information specialists and maintenance mechanics responsible for the upkeep of grounds, roads and facilities were among those fired.

Spero said the notices began arriving at 7 p.m. Friday and continued late into the night.

“By exempting those people, the goal is to make sure that nothing that is directly impacting aviation safety has an adverse impact,” Spero told USA TODAY. “But when you lose all these other people, these other support people, that creates a huge hole in all those support functions that we need to have to do our jobs on the front line. So without them, your folks are severely handicapped.”

However, as per the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the layoffs didn’t affect critical functions like:

• FAA Technicians
• Aviation Safety Inspectors
• Air Traffic Controllers

As per the official release by the Department of Transportation, the layoffs don’t affect critical functions that are important for safety.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation in a statement said, “The FAA continues to hire and onboard air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them. The agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions.”

The Pundit’s Mantra

On one hand, critics of the move cite how these firings will have downstream effects, eventually impacting passenger safety adversely. On the other hand, the administration’s defense has been steadfast, maintaining that they’ve kept all the critical functions running smoothly in spite of the layoffs.

Needless to say, given how the year has begun with regards to aviation related accidents, it’s no surprise that the move is drawing fire from multiple quarters.

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