Aviation safety labor unions are pushing back after a number of probationary FAA employees and air traffic controllers (ATCs) were among federal workers losing their jobs due to efforts to downsize the federal workforce.
Those affected include workers “hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational air maintenance,” The Associated Press reported Monday.
Monday afternoon, a Department of Transportation spokesperson told FLYING that, “The FAA continues to hire and onboard air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them. The agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is “analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system and our members,” a spokesperson for the labor union said.
“The direction by the administration to all federal agencies to remove probationary employees from federal service has led to the firing of numerous dedicated NATCA Region X employees and many others” NATCA President Nick Daniels said in a post on social media. “These American workers chose public service to support aviation and the mission of the FAA.”
“There is no evidence that these firings were about poor performance,” Daniels said.
The NATCA spokesperson noted that, as of press time, the association had not “received any reports of ATCs being included in the terminations.”
The move impacts several hundred workers, according to Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS).
“This draconian action will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin,” David Spero, PASS president, said in a statement Saturday.
The FAA did not respond to FLYING’s request for comment by press time.
It is unclear as to what impact these firings will have on the ATC system. The FAA has been dealing with a shortage of controllers for several years, caused in part by employee burnout from long shifts and high stress along with a further reduction in staffing spurred by a mandatory retirement age of 56.
