A team from SpaceX is being brought in to overhaul FAA’s air traffic control system

A squad from Elon Musk’s SpaceX is visiting the Air Traffic Control Command Center successful Virginia Monday to assistance overhaul the strategy successful the aftermath of past month’s deadly aerial catastrophe successful Washington, DC, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced. The quality comes after CNN reported that the Federal Aviation Administration fired hundreds of probationary employees who support captious aerial postulation power infrastructure.

The nonstop fig of workers losing their jobs is unknown, but the national representing them said it was successful the “hundreds.” The Trump medication is successful the process of trying to eliminate thousands of national employees arsenic it works with Congressional Republicans connected a monolithic taxation cutting measure that is said to favor mostly corporations and the wealthy.

Elon Musk, the richest antheral successful the world, is playing a cardinal relation successful the wide terminations from his perch astatine the Department of Government Efficiency. And arsenic critics person noted, Musk’s presumption arsenic a large authorities contractor — mostly done his institution SpaceX — represents a monolithic struggle of involvement that some helium and President Donald Trump person repeatedly attempted to downplay.

In a station connected X, Duffy said the squad from SpaceX went to Virginia to “get a firsthand look astatine the existent system, larn what aerial postulation controllers similar and dislike astir their existent tools, and envision however we tin marque a new, better, modern and safer system.” Previously, Duffy said that Musk’s DOGE squad would “plug in” to the FAA to assistance “upgrade our aviation system.”

Duffy besides dismissed disapproval astir opening the doorway to a Musk-led squad to different delicate country of the national government. “Because I cognize the media (and Hillary Clinton) volition assertion Elon’s squad is getting peculiar access, fto maine marque wide that the @FAANews regularly gives tours of the bid halfway to some media and companies,“ Duffy said. (Clinton has previously criticized the DOGE team’s deficiency of experience.)

The FAA is nether heightened scrutiny 3 weeks aft a midair collision implicit the Potomac River resulted successful the deaths of 67 people. The calamity highlighted shortages of aerial postulation controllers arsenic good arsenic congestion astatine large hubs similar Ronald Reagan National Airport. The FAA has fielded hundreds of complaints from aerial postulation workers describing unsafe conditions from unit shortages to dilapidated buildings. And the bureau itself lacked a imperishable caput astatine the clip of the clang — mostly due to the fact that Musk had a manus successful ousting the past administrator aft the FAA fined SpaceX for failing to taxable information data.

Duffy’s station doesn’t notation Musk’s relation successful the ouster, nor the hundreds of workers who were conscionable laid off. CNN says the probationary employees were apt targeted due to the fact that they’ve been employed for little than a twelvemonth and deficiency the close to appeal.

“This draconian enactment volition summation the workload and spot caller responsibilities connected a workforce that is already stretched thin,” David Spero, National President of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO, said successful a statement. “This determination did not see the staffing needs of the FAA, which is already challenged by understaffing.”