Air-traffic union analyzing safety impact of FAA firings

A union representing air safety personnel said it’s reviewing the fallout from a slew of firings late Friday that affected U.S. Federal Aviation Administration employees, just a few weeks after the worst U.S. civil aviation disaster in decades. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents air traffic controllers, engineers and other aviation safety professionals, said in a statement that it “is analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system and our members.” [caption id="attachment_57148859" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] The air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Va. (Courtesy/Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)[/caption] Hundreds of FAA workers in their one-year probationary period began receiving messages about the firings after 7 p.m. New York time on Friday, according to the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union that also represents federal employees at the aviation regulator. NATCA Region X employees, which include engineers, aircraft certification specialists, staff support specialists and aviation technical system specialists, were among those affected, according to the union. NATCA said it hasn’t received any reports of air traffic controllers being included in the terminations. A spokesperson for the U.S. Transportation Department said in a statement Monday that the FAA retained employees who perform “safety critical functions” and that the agency continues to onboard and hire air traffic controllers as well as safety professionals, including mechanics, who support them. The firings come at a critical time for air safety, with a number of high-profile crashes already this year, including the midair collision between a U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet that killed 67 people. At the same time, the Transportation Department has said it’s enlisting the help of billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system — a massive undertaking that officials have been trying to tackle for years. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X over the weekend that members of Musk’s SpaceX team would be visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Virginia on Monday to get a first-hand look at the current system. Musk’s involvement has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, since the FAA regulates his rocket company. ‘Sad day’ The unions that represent FAA employees who were fired raised concerns about how the terminations could impact the overall functioning of the workforce and public safety. “It’s a sad day for those who chose to serve in aviation safety and public service, only to have their careers cut short,” NATCA President Nick Daniels said in a post on Instagram. “There is no evidence that these firings were about poor performance.” The action will place further strain on a workforce that’s already stretched thin, said PASS National President David Spero. “Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agency’s mission-critical needs,” he said. “To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety.” Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees transportation issues, also raised alarm about the firings, saying they “inject unnecessary risk into the airspace.” “Now is not the time to fire technicians who fix and operate more than 74,000 safety-critical pieces of equipment like radars, navigational aids and communications technology,” she said in a statement Monday.

Air-traffic union analyzing safety impact of FAA firings

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