Are air traffic controllers DEI hires? What Trump said about DC plane crash

USA Today

30-01-2025

Are air traffic controllers DEI hires? What Trump said about DC plane crash
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Donald Trump slams Pete Buttigieg after DC crash near Reagan Airport
President Donald Trump slammed former Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg after a deadly collision between a helicopter and a plane near Reagan National Airport.
Thousands of men and women manage the airspace over some of the busiest airports in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
These air traffic controllers are responsible for ensuring the safe takeoff, landing, and navigation of flights over major hubs like Philadelphia International LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump suggested one possible cause for a fatal collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter could be recent hiring policies that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over merit.
So, are the nation's air traffic controllers DEI hires — and what does that mean?
Are air traffic controllers DEI hires?
During comments to the media following Wednesday's fatal crash at Reagan National Airport, Trump questioned whether DEI hiring policies at the Federal Aviation Administration caused a decline in air traffic control standards.
In a follow-up statement from the White House, Trump claimed that under President Joe Biden, the FAA 'actively recruited workers who suffer 'severe intellectual' disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative.'
As president, Trump has now ordered the Department of Transportation and FAA to end any DEI-based hiring and return to a strict merit-based system.
The FAA has said that all controllers have to meet tough testing and training standards and go through a lengthy certification process, but the hiring process has changed under multiple White House administrations.
In 2014, under President Barack Obama, the FAA introduced a Biographical Assessment test designed to help qualified candidates without aviation experience land jobs in air traffic control.
Four years later, during Trump's first administration, the FAA stopped using the biography test and required all applicants to take the Air Traffic Skills Assessment instead.
After Trump left office, President Joe Biden implemented broader DEI policies meant to create more opportunities for underrepresented groups to get work.
Trump and critics argue that DEI policies risk hiring under-qualified candidates to meet hiring initiatives.
The Thursday White House statement pointed to a New York Times report that found that 'there were 503 air traffic control lapses that the F.A.A. preliminarily categorized as 'significant',' in 2023.
The cause of the crash between an American Airlines regional jet and a military Black Hawk is still under investigation.
All 67 people on the aircrafts were killed.