The Tragic DC Air Crash, a Little History...

 The crash that occurred last night between an American Airlines regional jet and a military Blackhawk helicopter that claimed 67 lives was extraordinarily horrendous. Unthinkable. The cause, of course, yet to be determined. The president and his co-leaders wasted no time in beginning the investigations into the possible causes with the intent to do whatever needed to be done to ensure such never happened again. 'Never' might be a little optimistic but they're doing all that can be done. Trump, as he is so inclined to do threw in a cup of criticism of policies of the last administration regarding hiring policies, specifically structured around the tenets of DEI. I'm not implying that the criticism wasn't well-deserved, but there is a time and a place for everything. 

Something interesting I happened to read that I believe is worth noting. A number of years ago, the Obama administration summarily rejected 1000 candidates from the Collegiate Training Initative Program. This was a program designed to provide a pathway to a career in air traffic control and to ensure the future ATC's had the skills and knowledge to perform the job. These 1,000 candidates studied, took the exams and passed with flying colors. The administration's excuse was that the pool of applicants weren't diverse enough. Instead of hiring candidates with the most competency, individuals were elevated for hiring consideration based on their race. They were no longer considered for the position of air traffic controller based on their skin color. Which happened to be white in many cases. 

Trump has recently sign an executive order prioritizing safety over diversity, equity and inclusion. This EO included the deletion of DEI from the operations of the FAA. ATC's will be hired on the basis of merit and merit alone. Skin color will not be a factor. It also requires that the FAA administrator to review the past performance and performance standards of all FAA employees in critical safety positions and make clear that any individual who fails to demonstrate adequate capability is replaced by someone who can and will ensure American's flight safety and efficiency. If you're a proponent and believer in DEI, now might be a good time to keep your mouth shut...