Vice President JD Vance defends it when President Trump claims the recent plane crash in Washington, D.C. was as a result of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
What happened:
Speaking on Fox News, Vance said Trump wasn’t “blaming anyone but was suggesting that DEI policies … led to a reduction in air traffic controllers.” He called this a “scandal.”
At a press conference on Thursday, Trump attacked former leaders on DEI policies, but did not provide evidence for his claims. Democrats and aviation experts widely criticized his comments.
There is a protracted shortage of air traffic controllers, but no evidence that DEI hiring policies have harmed aviation safety. The majority of air traffic controllers are white and male, government data shows.
What Vance said:
DEI policies implemented by President Biden made the FAA incapable of hiring the “best and brightest” controllers, Vance said. Getting rid of DEI policies, he contended, would help solve that staffing problem.
He also said that some controllers were not hired because of their race and blamed past administrations’ policies for the shortage.
Fact check:
Nick Daniels, the head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, has said that air traffic control hiring is not conducted on the basis of race or gender.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also stated on CNN that DEI policies have not been shown to have led to staffing shortages. He attributed the slow hiring and training process instead to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More details:
And a 2023 government report said the pandemic set back training, which meant it took longer to certify new controllers. Training can take over three years, and the FAA has done insufficient work to solve the staffing problem, he said.
Staffing has improved under Biden, but not enough controllers are at work. The FAA maintains there ought to be 14,335 certified controllers, but only 10,800 are on the job.
An FAA report also showed that at the time of the crash, one controller had two jobs, and another had left early.
What Trump did:
On Thursday, Trump ordered the review of federal aviation hiring and said he wants to see if standards for safety and hiring have decreased under Biden.
But the hiring policies Trump railed against were instituted during his first term and have been visible on the FAA’s website since 2013. His administration later lifted them when he came back into office.
