A coalition of Republican attorneys general from 11 states fired off a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Feb. 21 sharing concerns that the federal agency’s hiring practices focusing on diversity could impact the safety of American travelers.
In a joint letter to FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker, the attorneys general—led by Kansas AG Kris Kobach—said that the FAA, under the Biden administration, appears to be focused on “diversity hiring” as opposed to “merit-based hiring.”
“We are troubled by some recent reports regarding your agency’s hiring practices and priorities. It seems that the FAA has placed ‘diversity’ bean counting over safety and expertise, and we worry that such misordered priorities could be catastrophic for American travelers,” they wrote.
The letter went on to cite the FAA’s five-year strategic plan, which states that the agency will “diversify its workforce by rethinking its hiring practices and capitalize on opportunities to hire people who will bring new and diverse skills to the agency and reflect the demographics of the U.S. labor force,” according to the attorneys general.
The Attorneys General noted the Obama administration followed a similar hiring practice when the FAA “sought out applicants with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities to staff the agency responsible for air traffic control, aviation safety, major airports, commercial space regulation, and security and hazardous materials safety,” the letter continued.
They also pointed to the FAA’s “Year of Inclusion” three-day symposium in 2023 where employees received training on understanding the impacts of DEIA (Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) and how to unmask unconscious bias, according to the attorneys general.
‘Virtue-Signaling Diversity Efforts’
“Ironically, this was the same day that the Supreme Court of the United States struck down Harvard’s and the University of North Carolina’s race-based admissions policies and powerfully reinforced the principle that all racial discrimination, no matter the motivation, is invidious and unlawful,” the letter continued.
Concluding their letter, the Attorneys General said they feared the FAA’s prioritization of “virtue-signaling diversity efforts” over aviation expertise calls into question the agency’s commitment to safety.
They signed off the letter by noting that the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization provides services to more than 45,000 flights and 2.9 million airline passengers on a daily basis.
“Failure is not an option,” they wrote.
According to its official website, the FAA “supports and engages in a variety of associations, programs, coalitions, and initiatives to support and accommodate employees from diverse communities and backgrounds.”
Under a strategic plan for the financial years 2022–2026, first published in the fall of 2022, the agency is focused on four main pillars: Safety, People, Global Leadership, and Operational Excellence.
‘Safety Is the FAA’s Top Priority’
The People Pillar of that plan emphasizes the “importance of recruiting and maintaining a diverse workforce of the future,” the website states.
Last month, the Department of Transportation (DOT), which oversees the FAA, pushed back on claims that its diversity practices impact customer safety.
“Safety is the FAA’s top priority and drives all decisions,” a DOT spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News.
Referring to the FAA’s website section regarding diversity, the spokesperson said the language “is the exact same today as it was under the Trump Administration and previous administrations before that.”
“Like many large employers, the agency proactively seeks qualified candidates from as many sources as possible, all of whom must meet rigorous qualifications that, of course, will vary by position,” the spokesperson said. “The FAA employs tens of thousands of people for a wide range of positions, from administrative roles to oversight and execution of critical safety functions.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the FAA for comment.
The attorneys general letter follows an alarming number of near-collisions involving commercial airlines in recent years. In January, the FAA ordered a temporary grounding of roughly 171 Boeing Max 9 airplanes after an incident on an Alaska Airlines airplane during which the door plug of the aircraft blew out.
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
From The Epoch Times