Despite direct links between the air disaster in Washington, D.C. and federal hiring practices remaining unclear, the deadliest crash in 15 years has returned to the forefront of concerns about aviation industry safety, including past efforts to prioritize diversity over merit in the air traffic control profession.
After the crash, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump called out past efforts during the Obama and Biden Administrations to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) hiring practices, including for important air traffic control specialist roles, and issued an executive order requiring a review of government hiring in the industry.
The Obama-era changes to air traffic control system hiring has come under scrutiny in the past by prospective air traffic controllers and Congress alike for prioritizing diversity over merit, which critics say could compromise safety.
One prospective Air Traffic Control Specialist sued in 2015, alleging that the Obama FAA discriminated in its admissions process for air traffic controller training by designing a questionnaire that prioritized minority candidates over others, even those who had completed the FAA’s Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI).
Just the News reported on this lawsuit last year, which is still ongoing, after the FAA recorded 19 “near misses” at airports across the country that could have led to deadly air disasters much like the one that occurred in D.C. on Wednesday. The incident also follows recent warnings that the air traffic system is suffering from quality control issues and staffing shortages that put safety at risk.
