The not so friendly skies

When assessing any governmental policy, it’s always wise to look at the results of those policies rather than their intentions.  President Joe Biden’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is striving to enlist a diverse workforce through targeting certain demographics even as its air traffic control system is facing significant shortages and safety challenges.

Currently, the ATC (air traffic control) has several DEI hiring initiatives, including the identification of areas with ‘less than expected’ participation rates of black Americans in developmental programs within the FAA and the establishment of a full-time Hispanic Employment Program Manager (NHEPM) to increase the participation of Hispanics in the Agency, and advise and assist agency officials and external organizations on the employment of Hispanics.

The FAA also has a program to hire people with specific disabilities and Pete Buttigieg has set a hiring goal of 3% per year for those with severe disabilities including complete paralysis, severe intellectual disability, and psychiatric disability, which is all well and good, however, should he be doing this while according to the NY Times, current Air Traffic Control facilities are operating with insufficient personnel.  Of course, we should care for those less fortunate, but there is a time and place for everything, and just like fallacy that women in front line combat units are as effective & injury free as all male combat units, Air Traffic Control is not the place for social engineering.

Meanwhile, all the woke boxes are checked in Biden’s FAA, i.e., all references should be non-gender-specific (e.g., uncrewed as opposed to manned or unmanned.)  So, it’s fair to ask if Mr. Buttigieg should be focusing on replacing the terms airman and airmen with neutral terms like pilot, aircrew, or flight personnel, while the ATC and FAA in general has and are experiencing numerous safety issues including staffing shortages, mistakes, technological challenges and too many close call incidents at airports.  BTW – have you been on an airplane lately?  Wasn’t it a pleasant experience?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion have become the watchwords for hiring at the FAA.  Pete Buttigieg must feel that competence & ability aren’t nearly as important as diversity when the safety of our airports and passengers in airplanes is concerned.  So, what the head of the Department of Transportation is really saying is that we don’t need to look for ability and competence in new employees when “underserved members of society” are available to fill those positions.

The Founders envisioned a nation that afforded the individual opportunity – not equal outcomes.  And to quote pundit Bill Schoettler, “America has been justly proud of its own diversity of races, the land of opportunity for anyone who could demonstrate qualities of competence and ability that would be rewarded with recognition and compensation for excellence.”

In effect the Biden administration’s political preferences that provide rewards not for ability or know-how, but for the simple fact of the accidents of birth and membership in any group that has been determined to have been underserved.  The Founders would roll over in their graves at this new political yardstick that focuses on diversity versus any demonstrable ability, talent, or experience.

My goal is to fly a little as possible especially now that more recognition is given to “background” than ability, and when compensation is provided more for historical antecedents instead of current performance.   As I indicated at the top of the blog, “always look at the results, not the intentions” – so just think about your last flying experience and consider that the chaos you likely experienced on the ground is just the tip of the iceberg.

Quote of the day:  “Anyone who studies the history of ideas should notice how much more often people on the political left, more so than others, denigrate and demonize those who disagree with them — instead of answering their arguments.” – Thomas Sowell