The Department of
Transportation under President Trump is pushing back on the Biden
administration’s handling of the air traffic controller shortage, arguing that
officials exaggerated their progress by lowering standards for applicants.
Former
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, however, has rejected that claim.
Earlier this year, he said, “We did not change the rigorous standard for
becoming a certified air traffic controller,” adding that anyone saying
otherwise was “mistaken or lying.” He pointed to increased funding, training
and hiring during his time in office, saying the FAA had “reversed years of
staffing declines” and was on pace to meet ambitious new hiring goals.
A spokesperson for
Buttigieg echoed that position, saying the ATSA exam “has nothing to do with
the standards of becoming a certified ATC.” They added, “There is still a
minimum standard of qualification, and that line hasn’t changed. And you still
have to take a test. And that test hasn’t changed.”
But a DOT
spokesperson told Fox
News that the Biden administration “juiced the numbers” by changing how
applicants were ranked on the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA), a key
qualification exam. The “Best Qualified” category, which previously required a
score of 85 percent or higher, was replaced with a broader “Well Qualified”
group that included applicants with scores starting at 80 percent.
“They lowered the
standard from 85 percent to 80 percent to be best qualified … to get these
young people into the academy,” current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
told the New
York Post.
Critics inside
Trump’s DOT say the change made it more difficult to identify top performers
and contributed to higher dropout rates at the academy. “By eliminating the
Best Qualified category and lowering the standard for how top scorers were
defined, Biden and Buttigieg juiced the numbers to make it seem like they were
making a dent in the air traffic controller shortage,” the spokesperson said.
During Trump’s
second term, academy standards have reverted to a four-tier grading scale:
applicants scoring 90 percent or higher are placed in the “Best Qualified”
group, those with 85 to 89 percent are labeled “Well Qualified,” scores between
70 and 84 percent fall into the “Qualified” range, and anyone under 70 percent
is marked as “Not Referred.”
DOT officials
argue this structure ensures the highest-scoring candidates are prioritized for
training, improving graduation rates and reducing washouts. “Secretary Duffy’s
No. 1 priority is safety, which is why he’s restored the proper standards and
prioritized the best and brightest for placement at the academy as part of his
supercharge initiative,” the spokesperson said.
Buttigieg’s
spokesperson dismissed the Trump administration’s criticism as “a desperate
attempt to deflect” questions about whether the controller shortage is actually
worsening under Trump. “The fact is, certified controller staffing fell during
Trump’s first term,” the spokesperson added.
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