One day after Donald Trump's second inauguration, the White House issued an executive order entitled "Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation" that rescinds all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring programs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The president directed the Department of Transportation and the FAA to "take all appropriate action to ensure that any individual who fails or has failed to demonstrate requisite capability is replaced by a high-capability individual that will ensure top-notch air safety and efficiency."
Although the FAA Regulations don't define "top-notch," the implications are clear. The White House statement claimed: "During the prior administration…the FAA betrayed its mission by elevating dangerous discrimination over excellence."
There's a fundamental problem with these assertions: They're based on lies.
There is no list of unqualified individuals who were hired by the FAA due to race, gender, or any other DEI criteria who were deemed to be unfit for their jobs.
No such list exists.
A “movement” with no evidence
As I learned when I was licensed by the FAA as an aircraft dispatcher for the airlines in 1990, safety-critical jobs in aviation require passing many hurdles: verifiable experience, along with written, oral, and practical exams. No one gets hired without meeting or exceeding these criteria, and the bar isn't lowered for anyone based on DEI.
If there's any proof suggesting a single hire failed to meet established qualifications, the White House hasn't provided any.
The new FAA directive is part of a larger administration effort at eliminating DEI initiatives across the government. But it could also have a chilling effect on U.S. airlines and aviation companies like Boeing.
It's unclear yet how some corporations will respond, but already, American Airlines has reportedly "abandoned its DEI hiring practices."
To say that DEI has been an obsession in certain aviation circles is an understatement. For years, airline blogs have been rife with unfounded claims about incompetent hires.
But now it's much more than just industry gossip, because it has morphed into a federal policy without proven evidence.
To date, there have been no public accusations of inflight incidents or accidents tied directly to employees that were unqualified for their jobs as pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, engineers, or any other FAA-licensed personnel.
So where's the proof to support the dangerous accusations?
The FAA needs to address critical safety programs at Boeing and the airlines, but those issues are not caused by DEI.
What DEI has done for the aviation industry
For years, I and others have spoken out against wholesale outsourcing and offshoring of good American jobs, such as U.S. airline mechanics, who have seen their careers migrate to places like El Salvador and China.
And since Covid, leaders in the industry have complained about shortages of airline pilots and air traffic controllers.
DEI was designed in part to address such shortages by attracting demographics that traditionally haven't pursued aviation careers. DEI trains recruiters to seek qualified applicants from previously overlooked pipelines.
Many airline executives who have been loudest about the brain drains in the aviation industry have also been silent on supporting DEI recruitment that would directly help remedy those shortages.
Rick Larsen, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, blasted the executive order in a statement on Jan. 28. "Hiring air traffic controllers is the number one safety issue according to the entire aviation industry. Instead of working to improve aviation safety and lower costs for hardworking American families, the Administration is choosing to spread bogus DEI claims to justify this decision."
As one FAA inspector expressed it to me recently: "[DEI] is about expanding recruitment so airlines and the FAA look more like America. It has never been about hiring or promoting the unqualified."
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal workers, stated last week: "The federal government already hires and promotes exclusively on the basis of merit. The results are clear: a diverse federal workforce that looks like the nation it serves, with the lowest gender and racial pay gaps in the country."
I have seen the benefits of diversity for years. I've taught and lectured at Vaughn College of Aeronautics, and I can testify that Vaughn boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation.
Chaundra Daniels, Director of Career Services at Vaughn, told me: "[DEI] wasn't as inclusive with white men as it should have been, and a lot felt left out. Understandably."
And what about veterans and the disabled?
Tellingly, anti-DEI rhetoric focuses on race and gender. But two more groups directly affected by Trump's statement also fall under the FAA's DEI umbrella: veterans and the disabled.
In fact, the term DEIA—which includes "Accessibility"—is what is widely used by the government to ensure that veterans and the disabled with the right qualifications are also considered for jobs. Yet the White House has shortened the term to just DEI.
This is the new administration's Pandora's box: Is it claiming that DEIA is promoting under-qualified individuals, as long as they're not veterans or the disabled?
Or are the targets of the current crackdown only those people who check certain racial or gender boxes? The answer may lie in Project 2025's 922-page manifesto, which repeatedly details eliminating DEI.
If this is just about race or gender, which dropping the A suggests, then let's call this action what it is.
Who will discover young aviation enthusiasts?
Since 2001, I've also been an officer in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, which oversees Civil Air Patrol youth programs that help encourage young Americans aged 12 and up to gain otherwise unattainable aeronautical experience, including flying. Former CAP members now populate airlines, the military, and NASA.
In mid-January, all members received an email from CAP's National Commander stating CAP has been asked to pause "any future DEIA-related events, programs, policies, or related activities." This despite the fact that no CAP members are ever promoted or assigned before meeting the full list of requisite qualifications.
My many years at Vaughn and CAP have allowed me to see the face of a changing America in future aviation professionals. Talented young people need role models who resemble them, inspiring their drive to succeed in this critical and demanding field.
After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, he said that "any mistake I made would be magnified because I was the only Black man out there."
The White House’s senseless DEI directive has the same effect on aviation professionals, because the order has virtually ensured thousands of qualified workers are being maligned, vaguely, as "DEI hires." Even if they're more skilled than their peers, they'll carry the weight of having to appear better.
Where do we go from here?
Perhaps the first step is engaging a national conversation about two issues:
1) If DEI programs have truly affected safety, as the title of the executive order implies, then provide data that proves it. To date, there's been no evidence.
2) If this purge isn't about safety, then let's define what it really is about. AFGE seems to have nailed it: "Ultimately, these attacks on DEIA are just a smokescreen for firing civil servants, undermining the apolitical civil service, and turning the federal government into an army of yes-men loyal only to the president, not the Constitution."
Or as Vaughn’s Daniels puts it: "The real problem some people have with DEI is the 'E' for equity. And we also have to follow the purse—what's happening to the money the government will save?
America awaits the answers.
William J. McGee is the Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at American Economic Liberties Project. An FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he spent seven years in airline flight operations management and was Editor-in-Chief of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. He is the author of Attention All Passengers and teaches at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. There is more at www.economicliberties.us/william-mcgee/.
