Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to social media to call out the Trump administration for trying to cut air traffic controller positions despite the shortage of air traffic controllers. His message comes after Donald Trump spent last week blaming a plane crash on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), a rightwing term to disparage hiring women and people of color.
Last week, American Eagle Flight 5342 crashed after colliding with a military helicopter over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. All 67 passengers on both aircraft died.
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In the immediate aftermath, Trump blamed “DEI” and “diversity” and claimed that former President Joe Biden had hired people without “brainpower” in order to increase diversity at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He said that Biden had an explicit “standard” for hiring people who failed “very powerful tests,” but there’s no reason to believe this. When pressed for evidence, Trump said it was “common sense.”
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He also blamed Buttigieg. “A real winner, that guy’s a real winner. You know how badly everything’s run since he’s run this Department of Transportation? He’s a disaster,” Trump said.
Buttigieg responded last week, and he went back to the topic over the weekend, highlighting how Trump has been removing people from key aviation safety positions – as well as air traffic controllers – since getting into office.
“They can’t spin this away,” Buttigieg wrote. “The Trump administration contacted air traffic controllers, offering buyouts to leave their jobs. It’s a very easily proven fact.”
He linked an AP article about an offer Trump gave to air traffic controllers to get them to resign and accept eight months’ pay. There is currently a national shortage of air traffic controllers, and on the night of the American Eagle Flight 5342 crash, the Reagan National Airport was short an air traffic controller, forcing the same air traffic controller to handle both planes and helicopters.
Trump later withdrew the offer.
“Now they claim the controllers aren’t eligible for buyouts after all,” Buttigieg continued. “What changed? Why were they sent the offer? At best – and this is being generous – it was disturbingly sloppy, in a field which demands precision and competence.”
They can't spin this away. The Trump administration contacted air traffic controllers, offering buyouts to leave their jobs. It's a very easily proven fact.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 2, 2025
Now they claim the controllers aren't eligible for buyouts after all. What changed? Why were they sent the offer? At best – and this is being generous – it was disturbingly sloppy, in a field which demands precision and competence.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 2, 2025
In the brief time that he has been in the White House, Trump implemented a hiring freeze on federal civilian employees, which may have prevented the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from hiring air traffic controllers. At the same time, Trump ordered the FAA to stop all “Biden DEI hiring programs.”
Trump ally Elon Musk forced the former head of the FAA, Michael Whitaker, to resign after he proposed over $600,000 in fines for Musk’s company, SpaceX, over safety concerns.
Trump fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and dismissed all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee last week as well. The Aviation Security Advisory Committee was created by Congress in 1988 after the PanAm Flight 103 bombing.
All of this occurred just a year after Buttigieg pressed Congress to authorize funding to hire 2000 more air traffic controllers.
“We need more, and we’re hiring more,” Buttigieg said in April 2024 on MSNBC after he requested the funding. “If you look at just a chart over the last 30 years or so, the number of air traffic controllers has gone down and down and down, until recently where we finally got that number going up.”
“We hired 1,500, then 1,800 in this year. We’re requesting a budget from Congress and let us hire 2,000 next year so that you don’t have as much of this concern about controllers being overworked.”
“These controllers are pros, and it’s extraordinary what they do, but we need to support them for that very reason, with the right kind of space between their shifts with more controllers coming into their ranks, and importantly, with better technology.”
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