The acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed that the Trump administration terminated agency probationary employees last week. However, the acting FAA administrator, Chris Rocheleau, emphasized that the dismissed roles were not deemed critical to the safety of flights.
In an agency-wide memo, Rocheleau stated, 'In alignment with the Administration’s goal to make government more efficient, we regrettably had to let go some of our probationary employees last week.' He reassured employees by saying, 'I want to assure you the agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions.'
Despite Rocheleau's assertion, the head of the union representing the terminated workers argued that the fired employees, who were involved in maintaining air traffic control systems, flight and route maps, and procedures, played crucial roles in ensuring flight safety. David Spero, head of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, expressed concern, stating, 'They were critical to the front-line safety people. This destroys the aviation ecosystem.'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later clarified that less than 400 of the FAA's 45,000 total employees were let go, all of whom were probationary and had been hired less than a year ago.
Following the terminations, the FAA disclosed that 'special government employees' from SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, are now examining challenges within the agency. Rocheleau outlined in a new memo that the team from SpaceX will work on addressing longstanding issues while learning about aviation safety from the FAA.
Rocheleau mentioned that the SpaceX team had already visited the FAA command center in Virginia and a key approach control facility responsible for the airspace around Washington, DC.
The FAA's acknowledgment of the terminations comes in the wake of a tragic midair collision between an American Airlines regional flight and an Army Black helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC, which resulted in the loss of 67 lives.
