While we don’t know yet what caused the midair collision between the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and a civilian airliner in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night, renewed attention is turning to Biden-era DEI initiatives at the FAA and whether they may have played a role.
“The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” the New York Post reported a year ago.
“Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,” the FAA’s website stated. “They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability, and dwarfism.”
The FAA’s website also noted that individuals with “severe” mental and physical disabilities are the most underrepresented group within the federal workforce.
“Because diversity is so critical, FAA actively supports and engages in a variety of associations, programs, coalitions, and initiatives to support and accommodate employees from diverse communities and backgrounds. Our people are our strength, and we take great care in investing in and valuing them as such,” the website stated.
The initiative is part of the FAA’s “Diversity and Inclusion” hiring plan, which claims “diversity is integral to achieving FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond.”
The FAA’s website shows the agency’s guidelines on diversity hiring were last updated on March 23, 2022.
The FAA, which is overseen by Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s Department of Transportation, is a government agency charged with regulating civil aviation and employs roughly 45,000 people.
Obviously, there is no factual basis to support the claim that “diversity” enhances the safety or efficiency of travel — absolutely none. Common sense alone tells us that individuals with certain “severe intellectual disabilities” present a significant risk to the flying public.
“The aviation industry has a responsibility for traveler safety just as the health care industry has a responsibility for patient safety. These responsibilities outweigh other factors when considering applicants to work in those fields. People with disabilities who can successfully complete the task should never face discrimination,” Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, told Fox News Digital last year. However, he noted that identity politics is “creating opportunities for so-called oppressed groups by lowering standards for entry into those fields and thereby endangering the safety of those which it’s designed to serve. Some endeavors simply do not lend themselves to identity politics.”
Conservatives were quick to criticize the policy.
“As someone who has been flying all over America — and sometimes the world — for decades, I've had to put my faith and trust in everyone involved in the safety of the aircraft and the journey,” PJ Media’s Stephen Kruiser wrote at the time. “The modern airline industry has, for the most part, earned that faith and trust. Now it seems as if it's trying to see how quickly that trust can be eroded.”
Again, while we don't know if the crash was a failure of unqualified air traffic controllers hired through Biden-era DEI initiatives, there has been ongoing concern for over a year about their potential impact on air travel safety. It’s crucial that the public feels confident in their ability to travel safely, knowing that only the most qualified individuals are entrusted with ensuring their safety. The new Trump administration will need to restore public confidence in air travel.
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