U.S. ATC in dire straits: Over 1,200 employees resign amid busy summer travel, leaving flights at risk
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A secret document leaked to the Wall Street Journal shows the Federal Aviation Administration is facing a big staffing problem. More than 1,200 employees have quit, including experienced leaders and tech experts, as per reports.Many of them left because of a "deferred-resignation program" started by Elon Musk and the Trump administration to cut labor costs. Some people also retired, which added to the total number of employees leaving. This is about 3% of the FAA's 46,000 employees, a big number, especially before the busy summer travel season, according to a report by Wall Street Journal.The resignation wave started after a strange 'fork in the road' email sent by Elon Musk's DOGE to many government workers, offering them deals to quit and save the government money. Musk later quit himself and took Stephen Miller's wife as an aide, cutting more payroll. The resignations didn't happen in just one area, they hit all kinds of divisions, like legal, tech, and even space launch oversight, according to reports.The FAA says jobs like air traffic controllers are safe, but many worry the agency can't properly do its job now. An internal FAA presentation warned that workers are leaving in "mass quantities" at all levels. This problem adds to other recent FAA crises, like a mid-air crash between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines plane on Jan 29, which killed 67 people. Radar issues at Newark Airport, which made it hard to track incoming planes, as stated by Wall Street Journal.Earlier this year, the FAA fired hundreds of rookie employees, but later hired them back. More recent resignations include people who manage air traffic, airline operations, and accident investigations. The FAA said they are 'refreshing' the organization for the future.Jonathan Stewart, a longtime air traffic controller, spoke openly about the dangers of low staffing. He said, 'I don't want to be responsible for killing 400 people.' Stewart filed a report after a close call on May 4, when two planes flew toward each other at the same height. He helped them avoid a crash. He's very worried that equipment failures or short staffing could cause a major accident soon, as per a report by Wall Street Journal.Stewart wrote, 'The situation is, has been, and continues to be unsafe.' Newark isn't the only airport with issues. In Denver, air traffic radios stopped working for 6 minutes last Monday. The FAA is now investigating the Denver problem. FAA and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy say they plan to do a full overhaul of the agency, according to the reports.Many left due to a cost-cutting resignation program and early retirements.The FAA says flying is safe, but experts have raised serious concerns.
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