The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union is now reporting that 132 FAA employees have been fired in the wake of action from the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The list includes primarily probationary workers who have been in their positions for less than a year. The union claims that is because probationary employees are less protected than their more experienced colleagues.
In a statement, PASS leader David Spero called the dismissals “shameful,” adding that the job cuts “will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin.” Affected employees include systems specialists, safety inspectors, maintenance mechanics, administrative staff and more, Spero said.
Further criticizing the action, Spero pointed out that the FAA is “already challenged by understaffing” and that the decision to cut staff was “unconscionable in the aftermath of three deadly aircraft accidents in the past month.”
PASS contacted AVweb today and we received the following correction to the original story:
“Over the weekend, we were led to believe it was just under 300 employees represented by PASS. We finally received the official list from the FAA on Monday and it’s 132 of our probationary employees.
“Here are the areas in the FAA where they were located:
“59 employees from FAA Technical Operations
“19 employees from FAA Mission Support Services (all aeronautical information specialists we believe)
“15 employees from FAA Air Traffic Services
“39 employees from FAA Flight Standards Service
Jobs:
“management and program analyst
“management and program assistant
“aviation safety assistant
“legal instruments examiner
“flight operations program specialist
“aeronautical information specialist
“environmental protection specialist
“maintenance mechanic
“telecommunications specialist”
