As concern grows about aviation safety, especially after last month’s tragic crash in Washington, D.C., Elon Musk is pleading for retired air traffic controllers to return to service, to address the severe shortage of qualified personnel.
Musk, head of DOGE, emphasized from early on the importance of revamping the Federal Aviation Agency, calling for “rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.”
Fears regarding the country’s air traffic control have increased since the horrific crash between an American Airlines jet and an army helicopter in the skies over the capital in late January that killed as many as 67 people.
“There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers,” Musk said Thursday in a post on X. “If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so.”
The appeal made by the DOGE leader appeared somewhat contradictory. Only a few weeks ago, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy laid off no fewer than 400 FAA employees, while claiming that the cuts had not affected any flight controllers. Duffy had also praised Musk and his team for helping to “upgrade” the aviation system.
As the Associated Press reported, however, among those affected by the layoffs were radar maintenance workers, and specialists in landing and navigation systems. All of this, moreover, came just weeks after the air tragedy that occurred in the vicinity of the capital’s Reagan National Airport.
The crash between the American Airlines jet and the military helicopter was not the only incident that occurred in recent months. In the last week alone, two flights were forced to cancel landing at Washington DC and Chicago airports to avoid collision with two other planes on the runway.
In Atlanta, however, a Delta-branded aircraft had to turn around after takeoff because the crew had reported possible smoke on board. A few days earlier the same fate had befallen another aircraft from the same company, bound for Australia, which was forced to re-land in Los Angeles.
Finally, on February 17, a Delta aircraft completely overturned along the runway in Toronto while landing. Fortunately, the accident did not have catastrophic consequences: of the 80 passengers on board, “only” 18 suffered minor injuries.
