The FAA was caught in the latest round of mass layoffs by the Trump administration, including a technician who was working on the investigation of the Washington midair collision. Jason King told Washington television station WUSA that a list of 500 FAA employees potentially targeted for layoff was circulating on his last day at the agency, some of them directly involved with flight safety. “Aviation safety should never be treated as a budget item that can just be completely cut,” he said. “Weakening the FAA’s safety efforts threatens public trust and increases the likelihood of future accidents.” Many essential FAA workers, like controllers, are exempt from layoff.
Elon Musk has had it in for the FAA for some time. He couldn’t do anything about it when Biden was president, but now he can. As long as he “wins”, buy firing people, he could care less about the collateral damage he is causing.
The FAA HAS BEEN DATED FOR A LONG TIME NOW. AFTER NEARLY
60 years in aviation, and Witnessing
Many Experienced Very Professional
FAA types leave the FAA, The FAA HAS VERY FEW HIGHLY EXPERIENCED FOLKS LEFT. THIS HAS DEGRADED THE FAA’s ABILITY TO PROMOTE SAFETY AND THE PUBLIC FAITH IN THE FAA. ALL CHANGES COME WITH A PRICE TAG.
I HATE TO SEE SAFETY BEING DEGRADED AS PART OF PAYING THE PRICE FOR CHANGE. THERE IS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF WASTE IN
THE FAA. I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE WITH FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE.
ELON MUSK and President TRUMP ARE DOING EXACTLY WHAT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC MANDATED ON NOVEMBER 5th 2024.
HA! At 0430 MY time, we have two comments with opposing opinions on what’s happening just now with the FAA. I’ll add mine … I agree with Super3. It’s TIME!
I have 55 years of experience with the people who make ‘simple stuff hard.’ I have worked with some mighty fine people over those years but most of those are gone. These days, most people within the Agency are being paid too much, doing as little as possible and marking time waiting for their retirements. The problem isn’t necessarily the working people in the ‘trenches,’ it’s the managers. The whole thing needs reorganization, streamlining and a forced focus on doing the core mission. The debacle of DEI hiring to the exclusion of people who trained for the jobs of ATC would be but one example of loss of focus. In MY interface with them, I often call only to get someone working from home … WHAT??? And if I get a human working at the FSDO, they often defer a decision looking for someone above them to do it. There are too many lawyers and far too many chiefs at the FAA. Time to get the chain saw running and pull the yellow handles on them. What just happened at DCA would never have happened with the FAA types I first met over a half-century ago.
Hey … this is an excellent subject for a ‘Poll’ question. “Is the FAA ripe for reinvention, or are they doing a fine job?” I know where MY money would be.
Thinking about it some more, if they’re not avoiding a decision, they’re overreacting or hiding behind overuse of the guise, “Safety.” The very recent Piper rudder AD would be an example. And NOTHING makes me madder than hearing that Congress had to MANDATE them to do something by a date certain – e.g., Basic Med, MOSAIC – instead of doing their jobs. If I were Elon, the first people I’d fire would be the lawyers in DC. And …I’d mandate that the Chief be an experienced aviator.
Nothing short of a chain saw in both hands quickly followed by flame throwers in both hands will fix not only the FAA, but, all of government. Realistically, at this point there is nothing to salvage. Nothing short of complete demolition will suffice. Yes, we will all survive. It Musk be done.
Using probationary employees as targets for mass layoffs is counterproductive. Some of them may be much more talented and experienced than those who have been there for years. Mass layoffs of probationary employees is the quick and easy way to get rid of government workers but it can also reduce an agency’s ability to fulfill its mission. The FAA’s effectiveness directly impacts public safety, unlike many other Federal agencies, so a cautious approach would be better than the ham-handed mass layoffs approach.
I spent 27 years in the Federal government (4 active military and 23 Civil Service). I would target middle managers and overhead positions for layoffs rather than line workers. Span-of-control is the reason that there are so many middle managers. Those folks contribute less than the line workers unless their skills and experience are sufficient to help less experienced staff, which isn’t always the case. Getting into management is usually the only way to increase salary significantly but technical skills atrophy quickly once an employee moves into management. I would greatly expand the span-of-control ratio and hire more experienced line workers who don’t need as much supervision. Freeing up higher-paid middle management salary dollars could then be used to hire and retain more skilled line workers. Civil Service is riddled with overhead and management positions that don’t directly contribute to an agency’s mission. How many people does an HR, finance or legal department really need?
The reason that we have so many overhead positions in Federal agencies is the mass of complex, confusing and contradictory laws enacted by Congress and the mass of regulations needed to implement them.
The solution to the problem isn’t rocket science but it’s not easy to do and certainly can’t be done in a 4-year term. Do a better job of writing laws and regulations, put sunset clauses on most of them, get rid of Civil Service laws and regulations that protect incompetent employees, increase span-of-control ratios, reduce middle management ranks and overhead positions, hire and retain better and higher-paid line workers.
Hooray! None of the 16,436 offices of the Federal government should be spared - no sacred cows allowed. We are $37T in debt and it is time to dramatically and permanently reduce the size and expense of government, and at all levels.
If you are blaming DEI then you fundamentally misunderstand what it does. It is not reverse racism and it does not lead to unqualified or lesser qualified people being hired. Of course, it’s all in the execution. You specifically mentioned ATC hiring and I vehemently disagree that we hiring standards have slipped because of it. Show your proof.
No one argues that their isn’t WFA within the goverment. But let’s be clear, the administration is firing the easiest people to fire (probationary employees) under false pretenses (saying they ALL have given unsatisfactory performance) and pretending they are someone making the goverment more efficient. This is beyond stupid. Look no further that the DOE where they are now trying to rehire people because they didn’t even bother reading the job description before axing them.
Let’s not miss the forest through the trees. What DOGE is doing is ILLEGAL. Congress dictates how much to spend and where.
And at the end of the day this is all performative. At best guess DOGE might ‘save’ $20-40 billion by cutting these programs. ICE just requested $160 billion more while they are on pace to deport less that Biden. And Congress is pushing a bill that cuts $2.5 trillion in government spending while still somehow spending $4.5 trillion more. OH BOY HOWDY we have fixed things for sure!
You nailed it Andrew-M. I spent a decade tied to my local FSDO and have come to the same conclusions. Mass layoffs will be counterproductive. Targeted layoffs will help but the problem is not too many employees. It’s a symptom of an overly complex system, poorly written regs and lack of proper oversight. The FAA, and likely all government agencies, need overhaul. How did this come to be? Lack of oversight. Congress et al are not doing their jobs. They are busy trying to keep their jobs by raising money and preening before the cameras. The sham hearings they hold are solely for the optics and getting sound bites, “Yes or No! Can you not answer a simple question?” Makes me want to puke.
YEAH! SCREW MOSAIC, SCREW SOLVING THE UNLEADED FUEL PROBLEM, AND SCREW MYSELF, JUST TEAR THE WHOLE THING DOWN! I’M ANGRY AND I WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN!
By the way, has anyone else ever noticed that when any article ever even slightly brushes on politics or the current administration that there are always some divisive comments posted by brand new users at some really odd hours?
The public will demand a uniformed and public-facing FAA. Expect more emphasis on surveillance and enforcement as the FAA justifies their existence. Ramp checks? Letters of Investigation? You can bet on it and targeting the easiest group-GA. Leaky strut? Hangar rash? There’ll be a red tag with a number to call at your local FSDO. Forget to close a VFR Flight Plan? Taxi to the self-serve pumps one evening without the nav lights on? Uncle will meet you at the pumps with a ticket of sorts.
Now a 737 can be 1000lbs above its max runway performance weight but because average weights are used it shows legal on paper and, well…. Interstate commerce and alll….
Highly unlikely. If their staffing is trimmed to more efficient levels they will be forced to focus on the high profile safety-related tasks that the flying pubic expects them to address. For instance, when the IRS is trimmed, they stop going after the little tax returns with simple (likely honest) mistakes - and focus on the ones that are likely blatent fraud.