February 21, 2025
ALTERNET
President Donald Trump and his close ally Elon Musk are insisting that the mass layoffs being pushed by Trump's administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk heads, will not endanger public safety in any way — that their goal is cutting fat and waste from the federal government, not vital functions. But critics of Trump and Musk counter that the layoffs are being carried out in such a reckless, haphazard way that public safety is bound to suffer, from food safety to disaster responses.
Air safety is another major concern of Trump critics, who warn that draconian cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will make flying dangerous in the United States.
Politico addresses the worries of aviation experts in an article by reporters Oriana Pawlyk and Sam Ogozalek published on February 21 and a Politico Playbook column by journalist Zack Stanton published the same day.
Stanton notes, "Public confidence in air travel is already falling following a series of air disasters, AP polling found this week.
Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation safety consultant and former FAA official, told Politico, "I would argue that every job at the FAA right now is safety critical….. (These cuts) certainly (are) not going to improve safety — it can only increase the risk."
Similarly, an aeronautical information specialist who was laid off because of the Trump Administration/DOGE downsizing told Politico, "Air traffic controllers cannot do their work without us…. To put it frankly, without our team.... pilots would quite literally be flying blind."
The aviation expert, interviewed on condition of anonymity, argued that the Trump Administration and DOGE fail to understand the importance of the FAA jobs they are eliminating — and said the workers are being "targeted just as a senseless line item on an Excel sheet."
Pawlyk and Ogozalek report, "The first wave of White House-ordered firings at the Federal Aviation Administration included employees who play important roles in the safety of air travel — despite the Trump Administration's assurances that no 'critical' staff had been axed. More than 130 of the eliminated workers held jobs that directly or indirectly support the air traffic controllers, facilities and technologies that the FAA uses to keep planes and their passengers safe, according to the union that represents them, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists. That alone creates reason for concern about the impact of the cuts, people familiar with the terminations said, even if the initial firings spared the air traffic controllers themselves."
Read Oriana Pawlyk and Sam Ogozalek's full article for Politico at this link and Zack Stanton's Politico Playbook column here.
President Donald Trump and his close ally Elon Musk are insisting that the mass layoffs being pushed by Trump's administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk heads, will not endanger public safety in any way — that their goal is cutting fat and waste from the federal government, not vital functions. But critics of Trump and Musk counter that the layoffs are being carried out in such a reckless, haphazard way that public safety is bound to suffer, from food safety to disaster responses.
Air safety is another major concern of Trump critics, who warn that draconian cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will make flying dangerous in the United States.
Politico addresses the worries of aviation experts in an article by reporters Oriana Pawlyk and Sam Ogozalek published on February 21 and a Politico Playbook column by journalist Zack Stanton published the same day.
Stanton notes, "Public confidence in air travel is already falling following a series of air disasters, AP polling found this week.
Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation safety consultant and former FAA official, told Politico, "I would argue that every job at the FAA right now is safety critical….. (These cuts) certainly (are) not going to improve safety — it can only increase the risk."
Similarly, an aeronautical information specialist who was laid off because of the Trump Administration/DOGE downsizing told Politico, "Air traffic controllers cannot do their work without us…. To put it frankly, without our team.... pilots would quite literally be flying blind."
The aviation expert, interviewed on condition of anonymity, argued that the Trump Administration and DOGE fail to understand the importance of the FAA jobs they are eliminating — and said the workers are being "targeted just as a senseless line item on an Excel sheet."
Pawlyk and Ogozalek report, "The first wave of White House-ordered firings at the Federal Aviation Administration included employees who play important roles in the safety of air travel — despite the Trump Administration's assurances that no 'critical' staff had been axed. More than 130 of the eliminated workers held jobs that directly or indirectly support the air traffic controllers, facilities and technologies that the FAA uses to keep planes and their passengers safe, according to the union that represents them, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists. That alone creates reason for concern about the impact of the cuts, people familiar with the terminations said, even if the initial firings spared the air traffic controllers themselves."
Read Oriana Pawlyk and Sam Ogozalek's full article for Politico at this link and Zack Stanton's Politico Playbook column here.
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