Photo: Alamy
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer on Tuesday for blaming President Donald Trump for a recent Delta Air Lines plane crash in Toronto.
Schumer pointed to Trump’s FAA layoffs for making air travel less safe in a post following the plane crash that involved 80 people on the runway of the Toronto airport.
“I’m thankful that everyone in the flight incident in Toronto that took off from Minneapolis is safe, but we keep seeing these incidents day after day,” Schumer posted on X. ” Meanwhile, Trump’s doing massive layoffs at the FAA—including safety specialists—and making our skies less and less safe. Democrats are fighting to protect the flying public.”
Leavitt addressed the post on Fox News’ “America Reports,” stating that no “air traffic controllers were let go.”
“It’s incredibly irresponsible for Chuck Schumer to say such a thing when the investigation is still underway,” Leavitt said.
“The facts about the FAA are that no air-traffic controllers have been let go by Secretary Duffy or this new administration. In fact, Secretary Duffy has put great emphasis on hiring the best and the brightest air-traffic controllers who want to be part of the FAA,” she continued.
“We want the best and the brightest, the most competent individuals in positions especially of public safety at the FAA, the Department of Transportation, and all departments across this federal government, so we can best serve the American people,” Leavitt added.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed the accusations of FAA firings in a post to X.
“Mayor Pete failed for four years to address the air traffic controller shortage and upgrade our outdated, World War II-era air traffic control system. In less than four weeks, we have already begun the process and are engaging the smartest minds in the entire world,” Duffy wrote.
“Here’s the truth: the FAA alone has a staggering 45,000 employees. Less than 400 were let go, and they were all probationary, meaning they had been hired less than a year ago. Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go,” he stated.
