Layoffs Have Not Hit ‘Safety Critical’ Staff, FAA Chief Says

Recent government-wide layoffs have not affected any safety-critical employees in the FAA, Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in an agency-wide email Feb 19.

The agency “regrettably had to let go of some of probationary employees last week” as part of “the administration’s goal to make government more efficient,” Rocheleau wrote. “Despite what you may be hearing, I want to assure you the agency has retained employees who perform safety-critical functions.”

Rocheleau, a former FAA senior executive who returned in January after more than three years at the National Business Aviation Association, said the agency continues to add air traffic controllers “and other safety professionals, including our maintenance technicians and others who directly support them.”

The message framed the government’s efficiency push, work being done by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and a related team of “special government employees” as complementary to the agency’s “continuous improvement” efforts.

“I see this as an excellent opportunity to solve long-standing challenges and to add more tools to support safe and efficient operations in the National Airspace System,” Rocheleau wrote. “We are asking for their help to engineer solutions while we keep their airspace open and safe ... we will learn from them, and they will learn more about aviation safety from us.”

Representatives from DOGE have visited several FAA facilities, including the air traffic control command center and Potomac TRACON, co-located in Warrenton, Va., west of Washington, D.C. They will be at other facilities, including headquarters, he added.

Rocheleau’s message came as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requesting details of every FAA employee terminated since Feb. 14.

Blumenthal, chair of the permanent subcommittee on investigations that has examined FAA’s oversight of Boeing, asked for several specifics about the affected employees, including their roles at the agency.

“Now is not the time to frantically discard FAA employees that work tirelessly to ensure the safety of every aircraft that takes to the skies,” Blumenthal wrote, citing a series of high-profile accidents in recent weeks, including the Jan. 29 fatal mid-air collision of an American Eagle regional jet and an Army helicopter in Washington, D.C.

The senator asked the U.S. Transportation Department to provide the requested information to the subcommittee by Feb. 28.