Initially, air traffic controllers were offered buyouts and advised to consider exiting the government

STAT

The union for air traffic controllers recommended to its members that they not accept Tuesday’s offer, because the FAA had not decided which positions would be included in the resignation plan.
There’s no evidence that the White House effort to downsize government played any role in the collision, with shortages of air traffic controllers long predating Trump taking office.
After the initial offer went out, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association recommended in an email to its union members not to submit a request for the resignation until more information was available.
Though the Trump administration talks about the need to shed federal workers, the government has been desperate to hire air traffic controllers for nearly a decade.
Don Kettl, an emeritus professor of public policy at the University of Maryland, warned that it is likely to become even harder to recruit those sorely needed air traffic controllers now.

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A day prior to a fatal mid-air crash at Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.D.C. Federal Aviation Administration staff received an offer to leave with eight months’ salary.

The Air Traffic Controllers Union advised its members not to accept the offer on Tuesday since the FAA had not yet determined which positions would be covered by the resignation plan. an official with the U.S. Office for Personnel Management. S. . The human resources department of the government announced on Friday that controllers were not covered by the hiring freeze or the resignation plan, unlike most other federal employees.

President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce federal bureaucracy have brought attention back to the practical ramifications of the Wednesday crash that killed all 67 people on board an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter.

There is no proof that the White House’s attempt to reduce government was a factor in the collision; air traffic controller shortages existed long before Trump took office. Individuals with experience in air safety, however, advise anyone attempting to drastically alter the federal workforce to keep in mind that lives are at stake…

“I find it concerning that some individuals are not interested in reforming or restructuring institutions; instead, they wish to dismantle them,” stated James Hall, the former head of the National Transportation Safety Board under Democratic President Bill Clinton. The world’s safest aviation system is available to Americans. Government reforms are undoubtedly necessary, but someone ought to keep in mind the proverb “look before you leap.”. “.”.

On Thursday, while the crash investigation was well underway, federal employees, including those at the Federal Aviation Administration, received an email advising them to resign and find more productive employment.

The OPM memo stated that “encouraging people to transition from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector is the way to greater American prosperity.”.

According to an OPM official who made the resignation offers, air traffic controllers are not subject to the hiring freeze that Trump declared when he took office in January. 20 and despite receiving the offer, they are not qualified for a buyout. The official discussed internal government operations under the condition of anonymity.

It was not clear whether OPM had informed the controllers directly if they were exempt. An email sent to union members after the initial offer was made advised them not to submit a resignation request until further details were available. The union email was copied to the Associated Press.

According to NATCA President Nick Daniels, officials have not given the union a detailed explanation of how the retirement program would impact its employees.

Daniels told the AP on Friday that “NATCA has not received a briefing on how or whether the deferred resignation program will be implemented in the FAA.”.

He continued, “How this program will impact aviation safety workers represented by our Union is still unclear.”. We are worried about the possible impact on public safety as well as the effectiveness and capability of the air traffic control system, though, should the FAA lose seasoned aviation safety staff during a widely acknowledged staffing shortage for air traffic controllers. “”.

The rhetoric and approach of the new administration have been more general than precise, despite its insistence that its cost-cutting measures will protect citizens and exempt public safety workers.

Trump chose Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, to spearhead the initiative. Musk has stated that “bureaucracy is killing America” and has called for widespread, drastic cuts to the federal workforce. When it comes to hiring new employees or retaining current ones, Trump and his supporters have made personal loyalty to the president a top priority.

Musk called for the resignation of FAA administrator Michael Whitaker during the campaign, who resigned the day before Trump took office after arguing with Musk about SpaceX regulation. After the crash, Trump appointed an acting head of the FAA at a press conference on Thursday, leaving the agency without a leader.

Trump claimed that former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama lowered standards to meet racial or other quotas and blamed diversity hiring for the crash, even though there was no proof of the qualifications of any of the individuals involved. During his first term, he criticized the FAA’s diversity policy.

For almost ten years, the government has been in dire need of hiring air traffic controllers, despite the Trump administration’s rhetoric about the need to reduce federal employees. Since 2009, there have been no fatal air accidents, but the FAA has had difficulty keeping up with the rapidly growing number of commercial flights. Biden announced the September hiring of 1,800 controllers after advocating for funding to hire 2,000 more last year.

The AP was able to obtain an FAA report that stated that the airport’s air traffic control staffing on Wednesday “was not normal,” with one person performing tasks that were typically performed by two people at the time of the collision. When controllers need to take breaks, switch shifts, or deal with slow air traffic, the positions are frequently combined, according to a person familiar with the situation. That individual discussed internal procedures while speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The University of Maryland’s emeritus professor of public policy, Don Kettl, cautioned that it will probably get even more difficult to find those desperately needed air traffic controllers going forward.

“Hiring more controllers will undoubtedly be more challenging given the amount of uncertainty in such a short period of time and the president’s apparent personal blame,” Kettl stated. “,”.

Kettl cautioned that a number of important, difficult, and highly skilled government positions, such as surgeons at Veterans Administration hospitals and food safety inspectors, are already difficult to fill and could become even more so in the future.

“Our lives are interwoven with the fabric of government,” Kettl stated. “You get a lower quality if you reduce the capacity. “”.

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