The Trump administration began the process of dismissing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees just hours before a terrifying Delta Air Lines flight crash in Toronto.
Flight CRJ-900 was en route to Ontario from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport when it skidded on the ice and flipped over, but astonishingly only around eight people were injured following a chilling warning.
The shocking accident occurred just weeks after a fatal mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January and on the same day FAA staff had their lives turned upside down. Probationary workers were targeted in late-night emails on Friday informing them they had been dismissed, according to David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union.
The affected workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance, one air traffic controller told the Associated Press. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association stated briefly on Monday that it was “analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system and our members.”
Several FAA employees who were dismissed were involved in a classified early warning radar system, announced by the Air Force in 2023 for Hawaii. This system was designed to detect incoming cruise missiles and was partially funded by the Department of Defense.
Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander, one of the terminated employees, said: “The Hawaii radar and the FAA National Defense Program office working on it is about protecting national security.”
He added: “I don’t think they even knew what NDP does, they just thought, oh no big deal, he just works for the FAA.”
Expressing his concern, Spitzer-Stadtlander stated: “This is about protecting national security, and I’m scared to death,” and warned, “And the American public should be scared too.”
Spero revealed that messages began arriving after 7pm on Friday and continued late into the night, reports The Mirror US. More might be notified over the long weekend or barred from entering FAA buildings on Tuesday, he said.
The employees were abruptly sacked “without cause nor based on performance or conduct,” Spero revealed, and the emails originated “from an ‘exec order’ Microsoft email address” – not one associated with the government. The AP was shown a copy of the termination email, which was sent from “ASK_AHR_EXEC_Orders@usfaa.mail.outlook.com.”
These dismissals come at a time when the FAA is already grappling with a deficit in controllers.
For years, federal officials have been sounding the alarm about the pressures on an overburdened and undermanned air traffic control system, particularly following a spate of near-misses at American airports. Factors contributing to the staffing crisis include non-competitive salaries, extensive working hours, rigorous training demands, and obligatory retirements.