Dave Spero, who heads a union representing Federal Aviation Administration employees, said Tuesday that the Department of Government Efficiency fired essential agency employees without considering the impact such cuts would have on the FAA's performance.
"Haphazardly eliminating positions and encouraging resignations are having a demoralizing effect on the workforce," Spero said, according to Forbes, adding that "no assessment had been done" to determine their impact on aviation safety.
The Hill reported that Spero, the president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, spoke at a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation in response to a question about the layoffs and air safety from Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.
Just three of the 332 FAA employees who were pushed out in the recent wave of mass terminations have been rehired, Spero said, and the vacated positions have not been filled.
"I think recruitment right now is sort of a difficult thing," Spero said, according to Forbes. "I don't really know anybody out there that's dying to become a federal employee right now, given all the attacks that are happening on them, and that's what we're hearing from our folks."
National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels reportedly told the subcommittee that no air traffic controllers were let go during the personnel cuts, but the workers who were fired were "all essentials."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said previously that FAA employees in "critical safety positions" were retained and that the layoffs only impacted those who had been working at the agency for less than one year.
Daniels said his organization is assessing safety impacts and improving training, but stressed that the group's efforts could be derailed by a potential government shutdown in mid-March if lawmakers are not successful in passing a budget bill.
"We continue to evaluate the impacts to safety and we will make sure we raise them to this committee as appropriate," Daniels said, according to The Hill.
Cohen asked Spero if DOGE Chair Elon Musk or "someone like him" should be allowed to exercise control over the FAA, and if privatization would resolve the challenges it's facing.
Spero said that the three key things the FAA needs are reliable funding, long-term planning, and more rapid rollout.
"Privatization is not the solution to those problems," he said.
The aviation industry has been under scrutiny since the Jan. 29 midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Blackhawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., which killed 67.