WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has initiated the termination of several hundred employees from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), creating significant disruption during a peak travel weekend and occurring shortly after a deadly midair incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January.
Late-night emails sent on Friday informed probationary staff of their dismissal, as revealed by David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union.
The terminated individuals include those involved in the maintenance of FAA radar, landing, and navigational aids, according to comments from an anonymous air traffic controller who was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated via a message on X that fewer than 400 FAA employees were let go, assuring that “Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go.”
Earlier comments from a Transportation Department official indicated that the agency had maintained staff essential for critical safety operations. The agency later acknowledged they would need to investigate if the employees whose jobs were affected were responsible for critical safety functions.
In a statement, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association mentioned they are currently evaluating how the recent federal employee terminations will impact aviation safety, the national airspace system, and their members.
Included in the group of terminated FAA staff were employees tasked with an urgent and classified early warning radar initiative announced by the Air Force in 2023 for Hawaii, intended to detect incoming cruise missiles through a project partially funded by the Defense Department. This initiative is part of several programs managed by the FAA’s National Airspace System Defense Program, which involves radars for extended detection capabilities near the country’s borders.
Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander, an employee from that office, noted that given the specialized nature of their work, staff typically provides extensive knowledge transfer before transitioning out to prevent any loss of institutional knowledge.
Spitzer-Stadtlander voiced concerns for national security, stating, “This is about protecting national security, and I’m scared to death. And the American public should be scared too.”
Spero reported that notifications regarding firings commenced around 7 p.m. on Friday and persisted late into the evening. He indicated that additional terminations may occur over the long weekend, with some employees potentially barred from FAA facilities the following Tuesday.
These dismissals occurred without justification tied to employee performance or conduct, according to Spero. He pointed out that the termination emails were dispatched from a non-government email address labeled as ‘exec order.’ A screenshot of the email sent to terminated employees indicated the address as “[email protected].”
The situation comes as the FAA grapples with a shortage of air traffic controllers, amidst ongoing concerns from federal authorities regarding the overwhelming strain and under-resourcing of the air traffic control system. The last several years have seen heightened alarm over close calls between aircraft at U.S. airports, with staffing shortages attributed to factors such as inadequate pay, extensive shift lengths, demanding training protocols, and mandatory retirements.
The investigation into the January 29 fatal collision involving a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet revealed that one controller was managing both sectors of busy air traffic.
Just prior to the aforementioned incident, President Donald Trump dismissed all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a body established by Congress following the 1988 PanAm 103 tragedy over Lockerbie, Scotland. The committee is responsible for assessing safety concerns at airlines and airports.
Spitzer-Stadtlander alleged he was singled out for termination due to his expressed opinions on Tesla and X, previously known as Twitter, the latter being linked to Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency overseeing cuts in federal spending.
As a Jewish individual, Spitzer-Stadtlander expressed outrage over Musk’s gestures during Trump’s inauguration and subsequently urged friends to disconnect from Tesla and X on his personal Facebook page, which he believes attracted the attention of a Facebook account named the “Department of Government Efficiency.”
After this interaction, he noticed that the same account began responding to older posts of his. It remains unclear who manages numerous Facebook accounts under “Department of Government Efficiency.” A spokesperson from the White House noted that such an entity does not necessarily have a Facebook presence.
Spitzer-Stadtlander indicated that he expected to be exempt from these mass terminations due to his role within an office focused on national security threats like drone attacks on the airspace. However, just days later, he was dismissed.
He was alarmed to find that upon his termination, his computer was deactivated, and all files were erased without prior notice.
The Department of Government Efficiency has not responded to requests for comments. Coverage of the firings first emerged from other media outlets.
