Trump can get the FAA to take off and fly in the right direction amid the DEI storm

With President-elect Donald Trump in the captain's seat, the Federal Aviation Administration will move at breakneck speed to restore the trust of flying people and make America's skies great again. He will likely appoint a new administrator with a sense of urgency. Enough administrative acumen to get world-class aviation professionals out of the way of DEI. And it has enough political savvy to secure the billions of dollars desperately needed for immediate modernization needs.

I don't have a minute to spare.

Having spent more than 8,000 hours as an air transport pilot, and also having served as President Trump's ambassador to the European Union in charge of the FAA's European headquarters, I have a unique perspective on understanding what's going on. He's the right person.

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And what's happening is stagnation when you should be sprinting.

The first time I took my mom on a plane, as we were rolling down the runway, she put her hands on the dashboard, leaned back, and yelled, “Gordie, you're not going that fast!” But to keep her safe, I couldn't slow down. The same goes for the FAA under the next administration.

Unless the FAA quickly modernizes its technology and procedures, the congestion that caused a record number of plane jams this Thanksgiving will be the least of our problems. Near misses, runway incursions, and exploding airplane windows are real and continue to happen.

A bureaucratic “we've always done it this way” approach won't prevent them. In a world where technology becomes obsolete almost as quickly as it is created, and companies like SpaceX grind through red tape, the FAA must keep pace. Speed ​​doesn't always feel natural.

We are about to have the right president to move us forward. President Trump's FAA Administrator could work with a new Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to revitalize and redirect the agency's entrenched bureaucracy. The FAA's talent pool is exceptional. And like everyone else in the trenches, true Airmen and their supporting cadres don't care about the color, creed, or gender of their co-workers. They value competence and mission.

Sadly, the misguided cultural initiatives mandated by Democrats have resulted in a stagnant agency rather than one worthy of the FAA's world-class talent. Consider a program from the FAA Office of Civil Rights. The program wasted 18 months deploying culturally sensitive training instead of imposing a mission to recruit wounded veterans into this country's thin pipeline of air traffic controllers. Really? Is teaching air traffic controllers about the dangers of unconscious bias and wrong pronouns as important as recruiting the next generation of professionals needed to protect our skies? Do you think travelers are taking the time to care whether they trust the FAA?

Few have forgotten the 2023 debacle when the FAA's Notice of Air Mission (NOTAM) computer system, which had been in operation for 30 years, crashed, delaying 30,000 flights in a single day and canceling another 1,300. Probably. This growing quagmire of deferred maintenance and modernization across all of the FAA's 138 air traffic control systems could have even more significant implications than DEI disruption.

Simply put, if we don't fix the FAA now, our airspace could lose its status as the safest, most reliable, and admired around the world within months. Who's on standby? China.

Of course, if you've recently landed at one of the many Beijing-built airports in Africa, Europe, or other continents, and are flying home to a dilapidated terminal like Dulles International Airport in the Washington, D.C. area, this is Not surprising.

If the United States doesn't modernize its airports, it could lose its status as the safest place to fly. File: Travelers wait to go through security at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, August 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Hua, File)

In other words, the FAA's transformation will not only improve service to airline passengers and U.S. military aviators (who also rely on the FAA's air traffic control services), but will also improve U.S. global power and prestige. It will be strengthened.

Unlike previous Democratic administrations, Mr. Trump and his Republican allies recognize that they face an existential competition with China, whose massive Belt and Road Initiative has been in place for 11 years. It has passed and its momentum is not slowing down. We also recognize that superiority in aviation is a key element in winning global competition.

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Trump, who is adept at effectively securing and deploying money, is always willing to spend it for results. He is likely to support a multibillion-dollar budget request focused on replacing facilities, modernizing radar and modernizing systems. Whatever the details, President Trump will take away from Congress the resources the FAA needs to carry flight into the second half of the 21st century.

With sufficient financial resources and blessings from bosses, the next administrator will be able to improve the FAA's “unsustainable” legacy computer system, which the General Accounting Office (GAO) in September said will take more than a decade to modernize. What I have described as a system can be replaced during a presidential term. I've seen Mr. Trump move at an accelerated pace on extremely important issues. He did it with research and development during COVID-19 and quickly built or built new airports, rather than over decades as GAO findings warn us. It could do so in conjunction with the FAA, an agency that must have federal supremacy over local zoning and environmental regulations in order to expand.

Unless the FAA quickly modernizes its technology and procedures, the congestion that caused a record number of plane jams this Thanksgiving will be the least of our problems. Near misses, runway incursions, and exploding airplane windows are real and continue to happen.

Trump's penchant for the unexpected (just look at his Cabinet picks for his second term) will drive innovation at the FAA, creating room for an administrator who doesn't come from a traditional aerospace background. Aircraft manufacturing giants such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, as well as startups with next-generation technologies, will continue to be important to U.S. aviation, but new thinking could increase trust in the FAA and the public.

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Trust is very important. How many Americans can be nominated to be FAA Administrator? a bit. But if you tell them about the unprecedented flight delay or the door flying off mid-flight, they'll know all about it. But much of what the public sees has much more to do with process than safety. Currently, the FAA is dealing with anachronistic oversight and procurement processes and is under pressure to make DEI, rather than technology and talent, the lighthouse that lights the way. The next FAA administrator will need to lead the change, go to Congress, advocate, get funding, and get things done.

Trump will never let America lose on the ground or in the air. We have to see if we are ready to fly with him.

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