The Trump administration began firing hundreds of employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), just weeks after a deadly crash outside of Washington, D.C., put a spotlight on the agency.
In a late-night email Friday, probationary workers were notified that they had been fired, David Spero, the president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement, according The Associated Press.
One air traffic controller told the outlet that impacted workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance.
The firings come just weeks after an American Airlines flight collided mid-air with a military Black Hawk helicopter shortly before landing at Reagan National Airport.
More than 60 people were killed in the crash and the FAA faced tough scrutiny in the fallout, as it was the deadliest air crash in the U.S. in two decades.
The firings also come just weeks after the Trump administration took office and promised to revamp the federal workforce.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has agreed to work with Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) and the Trump administration to scale back federal spending, but he’s also expressed the need for the FAA to fix its “antiquated” systems and hire more air traffic controllers.
The firings began arriving in employees’ inboxes around 7 p.m. Friday, and Spero said more could be notified over the weekend. Some people could even be banned from entering FAA buildings on Tuesday after the long President’s Day weekend.
Spero said they were fired “without cause nor based on performance or conduct,” the AP reported.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called for transparency amid the firings.
“The flying public needs answers,” Buttigieg said on X. “How many FAA personnel were fired? What positions? And why?”
In the aftermath of the deadly crash, officials have raised concerns about the staffing shortages at the FAA. Duffy said Sunday that he plans to visit the FAA Academy later this week to examine the education and training of air traffic controllers.
