Elon Musk is pleading with retired air traffic controllers to return to work—despite his DOGE project to slash the number of federal workers.
The billionaire admitted there is a “shortage” of the vital workers in an intervention certain to fuel concerns about air safety after a string of incidents including last month’s D.C. air crash which killed 67 people. The call came only days after the Trump administration laid off more than 100 probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Administration.
“There is a shortage of top-notch air traffic controllers,” Musk wrote on his platform X. “If you have retired but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so.”
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Musk, who’s been given free rein by President Donald Trump to slash the federal budget, made the plea amid nine days after the latest safety incident; in Tuscon, Arizona, on Feb. 19 two small planes collided in midair, killing two people.
Shortly after Musk’s announcement, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy released a statement saying the Trump administration is committed to solving the “staffing shortage.” He claimed the 100 layoffs had not affected air traffic controllers or safety personnel and said there would be a streamlined hiring process and 30 per cent salary increases to encourage recruiting.
“The new streamlined hiring process is just the first step to deliver on President Trump’s agenda to prioritize the American people’s safety and modernize the federal government,” Duffy, a star of Road Rules and former Fox & Friends weekend anchor, wrote.
The shortage of air traffic controllers had been known long before Musk’s post. More than 90% of U.S. airport towers are currently understaffed according to official figures. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association estimates there should be 3,600 more controllers and said Duffy’s plan won’t address a chronic staffing crisis.
“The solution to the ATC staffing crisis is a long-term commitment to hiring and training and the retention of the experience of all the highly skilled, highly trained air traffic controllers,” the association told CBS News.
Solving an air traffic controller shortage is not Musk’s only business before the FAA—his private business is too, with the FAA announcing this week that it may ditch Verizon for Musk’s satellite company Starlink as part of a communications upgrade.
The potential replacement of Verizon with Starlink has increased ethics concerns about Musk’s DOGE role, The Washington Post reported. John P. Pelissero, the director of an ethics center at Santa Clara University, told the paper, “Who’s looking out for the public interest here when you get the person who’s cutting budgets and personnel from the FAA, suddenly trying to benefit from still another government contract?”
Musk has also sent a team from his SpaceX into the FAA. Duffy claimed that Elon Musk’s team will create a “new, better, modern and safer system.”
