FLIGHTS SHOULD BE SUPERVISED BY THE BEST EMPLOYEES: President Donald J. Trump has officially terminated a Biden Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hiring policy, asserting that it prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over crucial aspects of safety and efficiency.
Through a signed Presidential Memorandum, the Trump Administration has directed the Secretary of Transportation and the FAA Administrator to immediately cease all Biden DEI hiring programs. The directive mandates a return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring practices within the FAA. Furthermore, the FAA Administrator is now required to conduct a thorough review of the past performance and performance standards of all FAA employees holding critical safety positions. The memorandum emphasizes that any individual found lacking in adequate capability must be replaced to ensure the highest standards of flight safety and efficiency for the American public.
Millions of Americans depend on the safety and punctuality of air travel on a daily basis. The Trump Administration argues that safety and competence should be the paramount criteria for all FAA employees. They contend that the Biden Administration had compromised public trust and potentially violated the law by prioritizing what they term “illegal DEI hiring initiatives.”
Every single day, the FAA is entrusted with the lives of over 2.9 million airline passengers across more than 45,000 flights. These passengers are traveling for various reasons, be it for work, leisure, or to visit loved ones. The Fact Sheet released by the White House highlights concerns regarding the previous administration’s approach, stating, “Almost unbelievably, as a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative, the Biden FAA specifically recruited and hired individuals with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities, psychiatric issues, and complete paralysis over other individuals who sought to work for the FAA.”
President Trump’s action aims to immediately dismantle this program, which his administration deems both illegal and dangerous. Going forward, all hiring decisions within the FAA are to be based solely on ensuring the safety of airline passengers and upholding overall job excellence. The administration points to a significant FAA system outage on January 11, 2023, which grounded all flights for the first time since 9/11, as a stark reminder of the critical importance of FAA competence. They attribute this outage to employee missteps and emphasize the need for the most qualified personnel in these roles.
This Presidential Memorandum is presented as a fulfillment of President Trump’s promise to end what he considers illegal discrimination and restore common sense to government practices. It builds upon his day-one Executive Order, which aimed to terminate the Biden Administration’s DEI discrimination programs across the federal government.
In his inaugural address, President Trump declared his vision to “forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.” Reinforcing this commitment, President Trump stated in his January 20, 2025 Executive Order on Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing: “Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.” This recent action regarding the FAA is portrayed as a concrete step towards realizing this vision within a critical government agency responsible for the safety of millions of air travelers.
