February 19, 2025

Duckworth Demands More Detailed Explanation of Mass FAA Layoffs in the Wake of Multiple Deadly Crashes

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) and Ranking Member of the CST Aviation, Space and Innovation Subcommittee—is demanding a more detailed explanation from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau on why the FAA abruptly fired hundreds of employees in the wake of multiple deadly airplane crashes. In her letter, Duckworth is requesting multiple answers from the FAA by this Friday, February 21, regarding the reasoning behind these firings and the impact these firings will have on passenger safety and our ongoing aviation safety crisis.

In the letter, Duckworth wrote: “I am alarmed about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) abrupt firing of hundreds of FAA employees. In the wake of multiple deadly airplane crashes, Congress and the flying public need a more detailed explanation. At a minimum, we need to know why this sudden reduction was necessary, what type of work these employees were doing, and what kind of analysis FAA conducted – if any – to ensure this would not adversely impact safety, increase flight delays or harm FAA operations.”

This letter comes after the Trump Administration assured that no air traffic controllers and no critical safety personnel were fired. Duckworth’s letter, however, raises her concerns that air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel cannot effectively do their jobs without certain systems and resources—many of which require maintenance by workers who may have been fired. Duckworth urges the FAA to remain focused on implementing the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act—which the Senator helped co-author—to help address the air traffic controller shortage and boost other critical parts of the aviation workforce, and questions whether firing hundreds of employes will help the FAA meet these goals.

In her letter, Duckworth is requesting responses to the following questions:

  1. Why did FAA find it necessary to fire nearly 400 probationary employees?
  2. How does firing these nearly 400 probationary employees improve safety for the flying public?
  3. Please provide a breakdown of the types of positions the fired probationary employees held, including how many were fired from each type of position.
  4. How many of these terminations were performance-based?
  5. Did FAA conduct an analysis of the impact these firings would have on passenger safety, flight delays and FAA operations? If so, please provide the result of that analysis. If FAA did not conduct any such impact analysis, please so state.

A copy of the letter is available on the Senator’s website and below:

Dear Acting Administrator Rocheleau:

I am alarmed about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) abrupt firing of hundreds of FAA employees. In the wake of multiple deadly airplane crashes, Congress and the flying public need a more detailed explanation.

At a minimum, we need to know why this sudden reduction was necessary, what type of work these employees were doing, and what kind of analysis FAA conducted – if any – to ensure this would not adversely impact safety, increase flight delays or harm FAA operations.

A broad assurance that no air traffic controllers or critical safety personnel were terminated does not answer these questions. FAA’s mission is safety, and its critical safety personnel cannot do their jobs without proper resources. For example, air traffic controllers rely on systems to manage communications, monitor weather and conduct surveillance and navigation.  Maintaining these systems is essential. Yet, according to a press report impacted FAA employees include individuals hired to work on, “FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance.”[1]

Our Nation’s aviation system has struggled since the pandemic, when so much experience left our workforce. We saw a spike in close calls, in response to which FAA held a safety summit to try to figure out ways to build back our safety margin.

Congress held hearings and passed a bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act to help address the air traffic controller shortage and boost other critical parts of the aviation workforce. The law also provides safety enhancements like airport surface situational awareness technologies.

FAA should be laser focused on implementing this law, restoring our aviation system’s safety margin and preventing more tragic crashes. I do not understand how terminating these employees furthers this goal, and FAA has yet to provide an explanation.

Please provide responses to the following by 12pm E.T. on Friday February 21, 2025:

  1. Why did FAA find it necessary to fire nearly 400 probationary employees?
  2. How does firing these nearly 400 probationary employees improve safety for the flying public?
  3. Please provide a breakdown of the types of positions the fired probationary employees held, including how many were fired from each type of position.
  4. How many of these terminations were performance-based?
  5. Did FAA conduct an analysis of the impact these firings would have on passenger safety, flight delays and FAA operations? If so, please provide the result of that analysis. If FAA did not conduct any such impact analysis, please so state.

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