FAA employee dismissals raise aviation safety concerns

In recent weeks, two significant plane crashes have heightened public concern over aviation safety. The incidents include a deadly mid-air collision over the Potomac in January and a Delta CRJ-900 overturning upon landing in Toronto. Amid these concerns, President Donald Trump has initiated the dismissal of probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Robert Weissman, Co-President of Public Citizen, expressed his concerns to ABC News 4 about these dismissals: "One thing we are seeing with these firings across the government is that they are indiscriminate. There’s some preset level and people are just being let go. It’s not looking at what individuals are doing, it’s not really assessing where there’s need or lesser need...And when you do that kind of bludgeon force to the federal workforce, you are gonna have problems. And when you do it to the FAA, you’re just making flying less safe, there’s no way around it."

Public Citizen and similar organizations are actively opposing this policy through legal means. They argue for increased Congressional oversight on critical agencies like the FAA.