Current and former air traffic controllers are raising concerns about the Federal Aviation Administration’s hiring practices and “immunity program,” warning that these issues may have contributed to the recent midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
According to former air traffic controllers, the FAA’s emphasis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring practices that began during the Obama administration led to the employment of less qualified controllers and a staffing shortage, a concern that was first echoed by President Donald Trump during a press conference following the deadly disaster, Just the News reporteed
Combined with an “immunity program” that does not hold controllers accountable for mistakes, these factors are believed to have contributed to the January 29 collision between an American Airlines plane and a U.S Army helicopter, which resulted in both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River near the Washington, D.C., area airport, killing all 67 people aboard.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident.
A 2023 report warned the FAA that air traffic controllers were increasingly making last-minute flight adjustments due to traffic and staffing shortages, raising safety concerns. The report highlighted quality-control issues and staffing deficits in America’s air traffic control system, which jeopardize safety, the outlet reported.
The November 2023 report also emphasized that personnel shortages were forcing controllers to work extended hours and make abrupt, last-minute changes to flight plans, thereby increasing risks.Regulators acknowledged that in 2023, there were 19 serious near-misses at U.S. airports that could have been catastrophic, marking one of the highest totals in many years.
Some former ATCs have pointed to changes in the FAA’s hiring practices under the Obama administration as a contributing factor to the current state of air traffic control, which has led to an ongoing class action lawsuit.
In December 2013, thousands of students who had participated in the FAA’s Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI)—a program designed to prepare individuals to become Air Traffic Control Specialists—were notified that their previous scores on the AT-SAT, a cognitive and skills-based test, would no longer be considered. Instead, the students were required to pass a biographical survey before retaking the cognitive portion of the test, Just the News reported.
What the program graduates did not know was that only 14% of them would pass the new biographical questionnaire, despite half of them having previously passed the skills-based test and met all FAA pre-qualifications to move forward in the process of becoming Air Traffic Control Specialists.Eventually, one of the CTI graduates, whose career was derailed by the biographical questionnaire, filed a class action lawsuit against the FAA for discrimination.
