Hot on the heels of the recent D.C plane crash, a lawsuit alleging that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) turned down qualified air traffic controllers because they were “too white” has resurfaced.
Nearly 1,000 air traffic control applicants were allegedly affected by the diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practice. The lawsuit, which traces its origins to the Obama administration, resurfaced after the deadly crash that has so far killed over five dozen people.
Andrew Brigida, represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF), is among over 900 applicants who scored 100% on the air traffic controller test but were allegedly turned down because they did not check all the diversity checkboxes.
The plaintiff had graduated from Arizona State University in partnership with the FAA via a program used to select the most qualified controllers. After acing the test, he was subsequently placed on a preferred candidate list before being turned down after the FAA changed the hiring rules.
According to the lawsuit, the FAA changed the hiring process to include a biographical assessment questionnaire, turning down hundreds of qualified applicants before they even showed up. William Perry Pendley, MSFL’s president handling the case, his client received an email stating that the FAA was “implementing changes to improve and streamline” the hiring process and that his application had been impacted.
The assessment not only discriminated on race but also awarded extra points to applicants who performed poorly in maths.
“Nevermind how insulting it was that the government was concluding that this is a way to pool up African Americans into the air traffic control ranks, but that’s all there,” said Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt. “They did change the test to change the applicant pool.”
In 2018, the FAA dropped the biographical assessment tool after Congress voted against it, requiring applicants to pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA) to demonstrate competence.
Regarding the D.C. plane tragedy, MSFL’s president told the British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, that “DEI hiring policies have no place in America, especially in safety-critical industries, yet they have shaped the FAA’s hiring decisions for years.
“Last night’s accident is a sobering reminder of the cost of placing ideology over expertise. How many more tragedies must occur before we return to common sense? It’s time to demand accountability, end DEI hiring in aviation, and restore safety as the top priority in our airways.”
However, the FAA contests the lawsuit. It says there was a skill shortage for air traffic controllers and that it was doing its best to ensure no talent was left out.
“There is a well-known national shortage of air traffic controllers, and the FAA has ramped up outreach to ensure no talent is left on the table.”
However, turning down 900 applicants who aced the test does not particularly suggest a talent shortage. Perhaps, there is a talent shortage for individuals who meet a certain demographic criteria.
Vowing to “restore faith in American air travel,” President Trump blamed Biden for lowering standards to the lowest level, resulting in people with “severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities” being hired to achieve DEI objectives.
“I put safety first,” Trump said, adding that “Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen, because this was the lowest level, their policy was horrible, and their politics was even worse.”
According to its website, the agency specifically targeted people with “targeted disabilities” during its hiring process.
“Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,” the website reads.
Further worsening the hiring crisis before the accident, the New York Times reported that staffing was not “normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.” One air traffic controller had left their post at the time of the accident, leaving one employee to handle both the passenger airplane and the helicopter, a job that would ordinarily require two people.
Trump has ordered a “systematic and comprehensive investigation” to establish the cause of the accident.
