OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:49 PM – Monday, February 17, 2025
Just weeks after a deadly mid-flight crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January, following a series of many other crashes at the start of 2025 and last year, in 2024 — the Trump administration has now begun firing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) workers.
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According to a statement from David Spero, the president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, who is also an apparent critic of the president, stated that probationary employees were the focus of late-night emails on Friday—informing them of their termination. He also blasted Trump for the move.
“It is shameful to toss aside dedicated public servants who have chosen to work on behalf of their fellow Americans,” Spero said. “These employees were devoted to their jobs and the safety critical mission of the FAA. This draconian action will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin.”
According to the union, the affected employees include administrative personnel, maintenance mechanics, safety inspectors, and systems specialists.
Spero claimed that messages started to come in after 7 p.m. on Friday and kept coming in late at night. He noted that even more workers could be fired and banned from FAA buildings on Tuesday, or that they could be alerted of their firing over the long weekend.
The FAA now claims to be facing a controller shortage as a result of the firings. Federal authorities have voiced concerns about an overburdened and understaffed air traffic control system, particularly in the wake of many near-misses at American airports. They have listed obligatory retirements, lengthy shifts, intense training, and noncompetitive pay as some of the possible causes of staffing shortages.
One controller was managing both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the crowded airport on January 29th when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger flight crashed, killing the pilot. The cause of the tragedy is still being investigated.
Meanwhile, an FAA employee who was let go over the weekend tried to argue that his views on Tesla and X, formerly Twitter, were the reason for his termination — rather than being the result of a broad probationary-level sweep. Elon Musk, who is spearheading the president’s drive to reduce the size of the federal government while tackling fraud, waste, and government overspending, owns both X and Tesla.
United States Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy posted on X in regard to the surfacing news.
“America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world. To do that, I need advice from the brightest minds in America. I’m asking for help from any high-tech American developer or company that is willing to give back to our country. Tomorrow, members of
@elonmusk’s SpaceX team will be visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in VA to get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system. Because I know the media (and Hillary Clinton) will claim Elon’s team is getting special access, let me make clear that the
@FAANews regularly gives tours of the command center to both media and companies. Later in the week, I will travel to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma to meet with air traffic controller instructors and students to learn more about their education and how we can ensure that only the very best guide our aircrafts. My door at
@USDOT is open to any and all patriotic developers or companies who want to help our country in this incredible, game-changing mission. I hope to hear from any company committed to ushering in America’s golden age of travel!”
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