DEI has jeopardized air safety

OPINION:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has implemented racist DEI initiatives that have put American lives at risk. I am part of a lawsuit to ensure it does not happen again. 

Americans wake up daily to headlines about major airline malfunctions—doors coming open mid-flight, window panels popping out, landing gear losing wheels, and engines catching fire. Understandably, the American people are increasingly nervous about flying. 

While Americans surely know of all the airplane malfunctions, what they likely are not privy to is the blatant racial discrimination that has occurred at the FAA concerning hiring air traffic controllers, putting highly qualified individuals out of work and Americans at serious risk. 

A major aspect of air travel safety lies with the FAA and air traffic controllers. On a daily basis, they are responsible for providing takeoff and landing guidance to more than 45,000 flights, which take some 2.9 million Americans across the country and the world. With that many lives at stake, it is imperative that we have exceptional people in the control tower.

There have been a number of horrifying incidents in just the first four months of this year, including two near collisions at JFK and D.C.’s Reagan National last month and one collision on the tarmac at Boston’s Logan Airport. In August of last year, The New York Times reported that there were at least 46 close calls of airplane collisions that year, and close calls were happening multiple times per week. We have reached a critical point. How did we get here? 

From 1989 to 2013, the Collegiate Training Initiative program was a pipeline to a career in air traffic control. The program aimed to ensure future air traffic controllers had the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the job. 

More than ten years ago, the Obama Administration scrapped 1000 qualified candidates. The administration’s justification was that the pool of applicants was not diverse enough, so they would be purged from consideration. Instead of hiring candidates with the most competency, individuals were elevated for hiring consideration based on their race.

Despite their intent to expand the air traffic control hiring pool via DEI, the FAA has recently admitted they are woefully understaffed and that current air traffic controllers are severely overworked. One report found that only 3 of the 313 air traffic facilities around the nation met the FAA targets last year. This has forced the agency to admit safety could be jeopardized. To mitigate such danger, the agency has “at times halted departures or otherwise slowed down air traffic.”

I, along with Mountain States Legal Foundation, am litigating a class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 900 prospective air traffic controllers who studied, took the pre-employment exam, and passed the test with flying colors but were dismissed because of their skin color. Our lawsuit seeks justice for all air traffic control candidates who chose this career, dedicated their lives and education to it, and were summarily denied a job for no reason other than the color of their skin.  In a system with only 14,000 air traffic controllers, purging a thousand of the next generation’s best and brightest was irresponsible and unsustainable.  

At a time when air safety appears uncertain to the public, the FAA should admit they were wrong and make clear that merit-based hiring practices are once again in place. 

With the FAA authorization deadline up this week, the onus is on lawmakers to ensure these dangerous policies have been done away with. Safety and customer service must be primary in the minds of lawmakers during this process, and getting more highly qualified air traffic controllers hired would be the most effective means to drastically improve both metrics.

• Adam Laxalt is a partner at Cooper & Kirk and co-counsel in this lawsuit against the FAA. He is the former Attorney General of Nevada. Follow @AdamLaxalt