The Trump government is confronted with pressure to protect the Federal Aviation Administration against further dismissals after hundreds of employees were fired during the weekend.
The job loss was part of a restructuring of the government under Elon Musk, a consultant from President Trump who leads a cost -saving initiative.
Mr. Musk's team helped to penetrate the dismissal of thousands of employees in the government, also in the transport department. But at the same time, the secretary of the department, Sean Duffy, asked Mr. Musk, whose companies span the sectors of technology and transport, to help tackle the aging air traffic control technology of the agency.
The dismissals come at a time when the FAA, the most important aviation agency of the nation, has to deal with various deadly aircraft crashes throughout the country, including a collision for the air between an army helicopter and the plane of the American Airlines that killed 67 people January 27.
About 400 probation workers – who were “adopted less than a year ago” – according to Mr Duffy, in a social media post on Monday, were cut out of the desk in a criticism from his democratic predecessor, Pete Buttigieg.
“Zero air traffic controllers and critical security staff were released,” Mr Duffy wrote.
The transport department added in a statement that the Air Traffic Controls and Aviation Safety Workers Office continued to hire and train. However, trade union representatives say that some of the dismissed employees fulfilled important support roles.
The dismissals include around 300 employees represented by the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists Union. Afterwards, Dave Spero, the national president of the Union, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, called on Democrat van Connecticut, the Trump administration to stop the extra workforce at the agency.
The notification of termination that was sent to employees said they were released because “Dotfaa believes that you have not shown that your further employment at the Dotfaa would be in the general interest on the basis of your performance,” said an e -mail that an employee received.
Mr. Spero said he did not agree with the reason for the fired. He said that although the dismissed employees did not include air traffic controllers and aviation safety inspectors, those who were released were critical support and administrative staff who helped security personnel.
The employees who were fired include maintenance mechanics and aviation safety assistants, Mr Spero said.
“They are not safety safety, but the rest of us cannot do our work without them, and that is the impact of losing these people,” he said.
Mr. Blumenthal sent a letter to Mr Duffy on Wednesday and called on the fact that the fired were reversed and said they formed security risks.
“A series of recent aviation incidents has placed the trust of the public in the safety of air travel and confidence in the agencies responsible for keeping our skies, the FAA and the Ministry of Transport,” Mr. Blumenthal said in the letter .
In addition to the fired, the fear in the aviation industry grew after employees of the Aerospace Company of Mr. Musk, SpaceX, the Air Traffic Command Center in Warrenton, VA, visited on Monday, as well as a facility manages in and out of the capital of the nation .
Representatives of the team of Mr. Musk, the so -called Ministry of Efficiency of the Government, did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Mr Duffy said in a social media post on Sunday that the visit would enable the SpaceX team members to see the system firsthand so that they could better understand the technological challenges with which air traffic controllers are confronted.
“America deserves safe, ultramodern air travel and President Trump has ordered me to deliver a new world -class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Mr Duffy wrote. “To do that, I need advice from the smartest spirits in America.”
