Headline Roundup • February 12th, 2025
Has the Air Traffic Controller Shortage Affected Recent Plane Crashes?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The New York Post (Lean Right bias) reported an air traffic controller shortage of 3,800.
For Context: In the worst U.S. aviation crash in decades, near Washington D.C. 67 were killed in a midair collision. Then there was a fiery plane crash in Philadelphia, a crash that killed 10 in Alaska, and most recently 1 was killed in a crash in Scottsdale, Arizona in a plane owned by Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil. Some have blamed the crashes on the air traffic controller shortage.
The Shortage: As of September 2023, all Valley control towers included in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) most recent report were short of their 2024 goals set by the air traffic controllers' union and FAA. The staffing shortages have been a longstanding problem, according to Axios (Lean Left). “Air traffic control training is notoriously difficult and an enormous number of people wash out of it,” a Slate (Left) writer added.
How The Media Covered It: While outlets on the left focused on safety and other elements that may have caused the plane crashes. When it came to staffing shortages, voices on the left argued that training is difficult and pushed back on the narrative that DEI lead to shortages. The New York Post cited a lawyer who argued DEI was a factor. “The FAA basically decided the students were too white and the schools too elite, so in 2013 knocked them off the preferred hiring list.” Adding, 95% of previously qualified candidates were screened out after graduating by the FAA's biographical assessment questionnaire, which he said awarded extra points to those with “no aviation experience.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities have a negative impact on public safety and have made conditions more dangerous for years, two air traffic controllers told Newsweek in the aftermath of the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in decades.
The Federal Aviation Administration employees, who requested anonymity because they are forbidden to speak to reporters, said low staffing levels in the high-pressure job equate to long hours, widespread mandatory overtime and high rates of turnover within the federal agency responsible for protecting the nation's busy skies.
A critical shortage of 3,800 air traffic controllers is because of the Federal Aviation Administration’s DEI practices leaving a “gaping hole” in recruitment, a lawyer claimed to The Post.
Over 1,000 would-be air traffic controllers were wiped out from consideration overnight because of diversity and inclusion hiring targets suddenly being implemented, according to the lead lawyer in a class-action lawsuit against the FAA.
Michael Pearson told The Post his clients had completed all their training at FAA-approved institutions before they were placed in a direct hiring pool for air traffic controllers...
A huge share of the country's air traffic control facilities are understaffed, per a recent FAA report. Why it matters: January's mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., is bringing fresh attention to the staffing shortages, which are a longstanding problem. • Investigators have not yet determined whether shortages played a role in the incident. Zoom in: As of September 2023, all Valley control towers included in the report were short of their 2024 goals set jointly by the FAA and the air...
...
