WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has initiated the dismissal of several hundred employees from the Federal Aviation Administration, disrupting staffing during a busy air travel weekend and shortly after a fatal mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January.
Probationary employees were the focus of late-night emails sent on Friday, informing them of their termination, according to David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union.
The affected individuals include staff involved in FAA radar, landing, and navigational aid maintenance, as revealed by an air traffic controller who wished to remain anonymous due to lack of media authorization.
Spero stated that the notifications began arriving after 7 p.m. on Friday and continued well into the night. More employees may receive notice over the extended weekend or could be prevented from entering FAA facilities on Tuesday, he added.
The firings occurred “without cause nor based on performance or conduct,” Spero remarked, noting that the notifications originated from a Microsoft email address associated with an ‘exec order’ — not a government email account.
The FAA is experiencing a shortage of air traffic controllers as federal officials have voiced concerns regarding an overburdened and understaffed air traffic control system, especially following several near-misses between aircraft at U.S. airports. Contributing factors to staffing shortages have been identified as low pay, lengthy shifts, demanding training, and mandatory retirements.
In the tragic incident on January 29 involving a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet, which remains under investigation, one controller was responsible for managing both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the bustling airport.
Days prior to the collision, President Donald Trump had dismissed all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a group established by Congress following the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. This committee is tasked with assessing safety concerns at airlines and airports.
One FAA employee who was let go over the weekend suggested that his termination was linked to his opinions on Tesla and X, previously known as Twitter, rather than part of a broader probationary dismissal. Both companies are owned by Elon Musk, who is leading efforts to streamline the federal government under President Donald Trump.
Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander shared on LinkedIn that he was terminated shortly after midnight Saturday, following a series of harassing messages he received on Facebook after criticizing Tesla and Twitter.
“The official DOGE Facebook page began targeting me on my personal Facebook account after my critiques of Tesla and Twitter,” Spitzer-Stadtlander detailed. “Less than a week later, I lost my job even though my role was supposed to be exempt due to national security.”
He further commented: “When DOGE notified me of my firing, they shut down my computer and erased all my files without prior warning.”
Spitzer-Stadtlander believed he should have been exempt from the probationary terminations since the FAA office he was part of focused on addressing national security threats, including aerial attacks from drones.
The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has not provided a response to inquiries regarding the situation.
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Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.
