Attorney General Knudsen urges Biden’s FAA’s to stop prioritizing DEI practices over safety of Americans
HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined attorneys general from 11 states in urging the Biden administration’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to stop prioritizing “diversity” over safety and expertise in hiring practices.
In a letter sent Wednesday to FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker, the attorneys general outline their concerns with the Administration’s recent hiring practices and priorities. Rather than relying on candidates’ experience, education, and qualifications to set them apart, the FAA’s five-year strategic plan seeks diversify its workforce and hire candidates who “reflect the demographics of the U.S. labor force,” putting the safety of more than 2.9 million airline passengers in jeopardy.
“Unfortunately, the Biden FAA, under your administration, appears to prioritize virtue-signaling ‘diversity’ efforts over aviation expertise. And this calls into question the agency’s commitment to safety,” the attorneys general wrote. “The FAA must return to prioritizing safety over diversity and virtue signaling. The FAA should once again hire based on merit so that only the most qualified aviation experts take care of America’s air travel.”
While the FAA focuses on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), passengers are at risk of delays, canceled flights, and other catastrophes. Last January, a FAA system failure canceled thousands of flights and delayed thousands more. In August 2023, the New York Times reported that the number of near-collisions between aircraft was twice as high as it had been a decade earlier. And in November 2023, the National Airspace System Safety Review Team issued a report that found there were “1,002 fewer fully certified air traffic controllers in August 2023 than in August 2012, despite increasing complexity of operations.”
“When it comes to air travel, safety must always come first. American lives depend on it,” the coalition concluded.
As Americans suffered delays and canceled flights, the FAA declared 2023 the “Year of Inclusion” and hosted a DEIA symposium, to train employees on topics like “Overcoming Biases Using Exponential Mindsets,” and “Unmasking Unconscious Bias.”
Attorney General Knudsen joined attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas in sending the letter.
Read the letter here.
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