The Trump administration fired hundreds of employees with the Federal Aviation Administration over the weekend, just weeks after a fatal crash over Washington, D.C., exposed understaffing at the agency.
The union representing the employees called the firings a “hastily made decision” that would increase the workload of a workforce already stretched thin. The union statement referred to the Washington crash as well as two others in recent weeks across the country as evidence that it was not the time to cut personnel at the agency.
“This decision did not consider the staffing needs of the FAA, which is already challenged by understaffing,” David Spero, the national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO, said in a statement. “Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agency’s mission-critical needs. To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety. And it is especially unconscionable in the aftermath of three deadly aircraft accidents in the past month.”
A union spokesperson said that close to 300 of its members received termination notices over the weekend and that those affected worked as maintenance mechanics, aeronautical information specialists, environmental protection specialists, aviation safety assistants and management and program assistants.
