A TSA employee says the actions being taken by DOGE are putting air travelers at risk.
SEATAC, Wash. — After an engine fire caused a FedEx flight to perform a successful emergency landing Saturday, the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the incident “highlights the importance of having the best and brightest professionals in aviation.”
But some who work in the protection of aviators, crew and passengers fear that there are other, broader reasons for concern.
“The distraction alone is negative when the focus should be making sure we are all safe,” said one TSA Officer at SEA Airport who spoke to KING 5 on the condition of anonymity, out of fear of retaliation by their employer.
That officer told KING 5 they got two additional emails this Saturday asking for a list of five things they did last week.
They said they’re worried for the safety of passengers because they feel this is DOGE’s way of frustrating people enough to either quit or be fired from their jobs.
“People without jobs means no spare money to do anything and barely enough to cover the cost to keep a roof over their heads,” the TSA Officer said.
They also described what the typical job performance process looks like, adding, “If you’re not performing your job properly, then you have your basic sit-down discussions, and then it moves on to the next level and the next step. You can’t just come in and say, ‘I want you to tell me what you did this past, this past week.'”
The federal workers were told last week they were not actually required to answer an email from the U.S. government’s chief H.R. agency, Office of Personnel Management, asking to list five things that they accomplished the prior week.
This weekend, they got that same email— and another one from their boss’s boss, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)— now requiring them to answer that question for DHS. They said the response is required by 8:59 Pacific Time on Monday, Mar. 3.
“Well, obviously there’s a hiring freeze nationwide that’s also public, and that impacts locally as well. So if you are getting dismissal of people that are not complying to this ridiculous email, you’re losing bodies that are going to directly impact your safety and security at an airport,” said the TSA Officer.
Speaking of safety and security, at the Federal Aviation Administration, 130 workers were laid off last month. The Trump administration said no one with a “critical safety” position was let go, but a union that represents those FAA workers said all of them supported overall safety. Aviation expert John Nance weighed in for KING 5.
“We have to pay a lot of attention to the things that should not ever be allowed to be interdicted by budget,” said Nance. “Right now, the last thing in the world that we need in air safety is a diminution of the number of people working at the FAA to try to make things as safe as possible. It is not only folly, it’s just sheer stupidity. I don’t care what your alignment is politically.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a plan Thursday to improve the air traffic controller shortage, promising higher starting salaries for academy graduates and a less complicated hiring process.
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