Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation of the United States, has affirmed that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has not removed any safety-critical positions at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Duffy, who made the comments on X, formerly known as Twitter, had previously welcomed the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the DOT, which summarily fired 132 FAA employees, who were reinstated a month later.
Fear Mongering
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
In a post on X on April 10, Duffy responded to Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat member of the US House of Representatives, who was onboard one of the American Airlines (American Eagle) regional jets that collided on the ground at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
Duffy started his statement by saying that he was glad everyone onboard was safe but warned against “fear-mongering” and invited Gottheimer to stick to the facts, namely that no safety-critical positions at the FAA have been cut. Duffy concluded that he looked forward to Gottheimer supporting the plan of Donald Trump, the President of the United States, to build an all-new and state-of-the-art air traffic control (ATC) system.
While it remains unclear what exactly the plan entails – the FAA has been rolling out various runway safety systems under an initiative launched by the regulator under the previous administration – Trump shared his thoughts about the potential system on February 6, a week after the mid-air collision between the American Eagle Mitsubishi (née Bombardier) CRJ700 and the US Army (USA) Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk.
Trump, during the National Prayer Breakfast on February 6, said that the FAA should have had better equipment, which is obsolete, and that the agency has been understaffed “for whatever reason,” noting that the odds of such a mid-air collision happening are “extremely small” even if there was nobody working at the tower.
“It is like, […] you go to a driving range in golf and you are hitting balls, hundreds of balls, thousands of hours. I never see a ball hit another ball. Balls going up all over the place. You never see them hit. It was amazing that that could happen. There [were] a lot of mistakes made, and it should have never happened. But regardless of that, it’s amazing that it happened. And I think that’s going to be used for good.”
Brand New And Not Obsolete
Photo: Nate Hovee | Shutterstock
The President of the US detailed that the mid-air collision should spur stakeholders to “do a great computerized system” for ATC, which would be brand-new and not “pieced together, obsolete like it is.” Then, Trump promised to speak with John Thune, the Republican Majority Leader of the US Senate, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer, the Democrat Minority Leader of the US Senate, about getting together to “just pass” a single bill to get the “best [air traffic] control system.”
Nevertheless, Gottheimer took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his disdain after being involved in the on-ground collision between two American Eagle aircraft at Washington-National on April 10. The two aircraft, a CRJ900, registered as N592NN, and an Embraer E175, registered as N422YX, operated by PSA Airlines and Republic Airways, respectively, were subsequently taken out of service. They were replaced by other regional jets to complete the departures that they were scheduled for on April 10.
According to Gottheimer, the incident happened when one of the regional jets was waiting to take off from the runway at Washington-National, with the other aircraft striking the wing of the aircraft that he was sitting in. The representative added that recent cuts to the FAA had weakened the US’ “skies and public safety.” Nick LaLota, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, also posted about the event on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that serving in Congress has come with once-in-a-lifetime experiences, including the most recent one, namely the on-ground bump between the two American Eagle aircraft.
Firing And Reinstating
Photo: The Bold Bureau | Shutterstock
On February 5, Duffy stated that he talked to the DOGE team and that they were going to “plug in to help upgrade our aviation system.” The message, which attracted criticism, including the fact that some DOGE’s team members are not even old enough to rent a car, was posted ten days before the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) confirmed that 132 probationary employees were let go from the FAA.
At the time, the union detailed that the firings, which were ordered from an unofficial .gov email account, would increase the workload and place new responsibilities on an already stretched workforce. On March 17, David Spero, the President of PASS, disclosed that the FAA reinstated the 132 employees after a court ruled that DOGE’s actions at the DOT, as well as other government agencies, “were unlawful,” which is a “win for public safety and for a critical workforce dedicated to the FAA’s mission.”
USDOT Chief Says No
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