Aviation worker slams Trump and DOGE for 'reckless cuts' that 'are doing damage' to airline 'safety'

11 March

Many critics of the mass layoffs of federal government workers being carried out by the Trump Administration with the help of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — including longtime conservatives like former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele and GOP ex-Reps. Joe Scarborough and Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) — are warning that the cuts threaten vital government functions.

One of those functions is air safety, a subject MSNBC hosts Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski addressed with a Tuesday, March 11 panel on "Morning Joe" (which they host). The panel included The Atlantic's Isaac Stanley-Becker, Vanity Fair's Molly Jong-Fast and aviation worker/airline union representative Alex Roberts.

In an op-ed published by The Tennessean on March 1, Roberts argued that it was still safe to fly during President Donald Trump's second term — but less safe than in the past. And he stood by that argument during the March 11 "Morning Joe" broadcast.

Roberts told Scarborough, Brzezinski, Stanley-Becker and Jong-Fast, "The first priority of crew members is the safety and security of our passengers. And unfortunately, these reckless Trump Administration cuts are making that job much more difficult. And that doesn't just impact the crew members, obviously. That impacts the 3 million Americans who travel daily in the United States."

The aviation worker continued, "So, I really want to drive home the point that yes, air travel is still the safest form of transportation in our country, but that reality is not inevitable. And it didn't happen by accident, and these reckless cuts by the Trump Administration are making that reality less so. So, I felt obliged to write this op-ed in The Tennessean, because this is a personal issue for me; my mother was a flight attendant for over 20 years…. I really want to get out the message that these reckless cuts are doing damage."

Stanley-Becker noted that the Trump Administration/DOGE buyout offer for federal workers was e-mailed to everyone in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including air traffic controllers and others in "key safety roles."

Stanley-Becker told the panel, "It set off just absolute alarm inside the agency about the possibility that air traffic controllers would be sacrificed as part of this reduction."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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