The FAA was caught in the latest round of mass layoffs by the Trump administration, including a technician who was working on the investigation of the Washington midair collision. Jason King told Washington television station WUSA that a list of 500 FAA employees potentially targeted for layoff was circulating on his last day at the agency, some of them directly involved with flight safety. “Aviation safety should never be treated as a budget item that can just be completely cut,” he said. “Weakening the FAA’s safety efforts threatens public trust and increases the likelihood of future accidents.” Many essential FAA workers, like controllers, are exempt from layoff.
King, who started at the FAA eight months ago, said the list apparently targeted probationary workers with less than a year’s service. There are now reports circulating that the net might have been cast a little wider than that. Apparently recently promoted employees become designated as probationary so they can be reassigned to their former jobs if the new gig doesn’t work out. That means some of the layoffs hit veteran employees with years or decades of experience who were in high-ranking positions. We’ve asked the FAA for confirmation of this but haven’t heard back.
