The second-term US President Donald Trump has surprisingly taken a dig at the previous administration’s hiring practices, which were responsible for the horrific collision of a military helicopter and a passenger plane in Washington, killing 67 people.
Donald Trump has raised questions about the standards of federal aviation hiring, but what did he do himself during his first term? The past has been combed through to find out the facts in this regard.
President Donald Trump had severely criticized the performance and hiring practices of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at a press conference.
Donald Trump specifically raised questions about the hiring of people with disabilities as air traffic controllers in civil aviation.
In his speech, Trump cited 2024 articles by the New York Post and Fox News that said that aviation is trying to hire people with disabilities.
These articles claimed that the FAA was taking a major step towards hiring people with severe intellectual disabilities, psychological problems, and other physical and mental conditions.
But there were some major errors and inconsistencies in Trump’s claim:
Trump’s claim that the Fox News article came out a week ago;
Trump claimed that the Fox News article came out a week before his inauguration, but in fact the article was published on January 14 last year.
What was the recruitment process in aviation during Trump’s tenure?
The fact is that the FAA’s website had a recruitment process for people with disabilities during Trump’s first term as well, and these efforts had been ongoing since 2013, while it was emphasized during Trump’s first term until 2020.
There was also a policy of hiring people with disabilities during Trump’s tenure;
The Federal Aviation Administration launched a program in 2019 aimed at preparing people with disabilities for careers in air traffic operations.
The following year, in 2020, it also increased its efforts to recruit people with disabilities.
The hiring rate for people with disabilities was low;
Even during Trump’s first term, the Federal Aviation Administration’s annual hiring rate for people with disabilities was 2 percent, and this rate has generally remained close to that range.
Are air traffic controllers disabled?
People with disabilities are also recruited for air traffic controller jobs because the nature of the work there is such that people with disabilities can easily perform the work.
