Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Ends DEI Madness and Restores Excellence and Safety within the Federal Aviation Administration

Fact Sheets

TLDR

This executive order fact sheet falsely claims DEI programs compromised aviation safety at the FAA, incorrectly blames a 2023 system outage on DEI policies rather than its actual cause (contractor file deletion), and misrepresents disability hiring practices that predated the Biden administration, while using accurate flight statistics (45,000 daily flights, 2.9M passengers) to create an unfounded narrative about DEI threatening aviation safety.

This “fact sheet” follows Trump’s broader Executive Order 14151 from January 20, 2025, which aimed to eliminate DEI programs across federal agencies. The administration characterizes previous DEI initiatives as discriminatory and potentially illegal.

The “fact sheet” falsely suggests that DEI initiatives compromised aviation safety, but there has never been any evidence that DEI programs contribute to safety concerns. The claim about hiring individuals with “severe intellectual disabilities” over qualified candidates is particularly misleading, as the FAA employs people across various positions, from administrative roles to critical safety functions, with all candidates required to meet rigorous qualifications specific to their positions.

The “fact sheet” deceptively links the January 2023 NOTAM system outage to DEI policies. In reality:

  • The outage was caused by a contractor unintentionally deleting files while working on database synchronization
  • The FAA’s investigation found no connection to hiring practices or employee competence
  • The issue was a technical database problem, not a personnel failure

The “fact sheet” omits crucial context about disability hiring:

  • The FAA’s targeted disability recruitment programs existed during Trump’s first term, including a 2019 pilot program for air traffic operations
  • The language about hiring people with disabilities that the fact sheet criticizes was present on FAA’s website since 2013, long before the Biden administration
  • All candidates, regardless of disability status, must meet the same rigorous standards for their positions

The characterization of DEI programs as “illegal” is unfounded:

  • The FAA, like many large employers, sought qualified candidates from diverse sources while maintaining strict qualification requirements
  • Aviation experts with decades of experience confirm that industry safety standards remain consistently high regardless of DEI initiatives
  • The claim about prioritizing DEI over safety is contradicted by pilot Tennessee Garvey, who states there is no evidence of DEI impacting safety standards

While the “fact sheet” correctly cites the number of daily flights (45,000) and passengers (2.9 million), it uses these statistics to create a false narrative about DEI threatening aviation safety. In reality, there is no correlation between DEI initiatives and aviation safety incidents.

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Ends DEI Madness and Restores Excellence and Safety within the Federal Aviation Administration

FLIGHTS SHOULD BE SUPERVISED BY THE BEST EMPLOYEES: President Donald J. Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum terminating a Biden Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hiring policy that prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over safety and efficiency.

  • This Presidential Memorandum orders the Secretary of Transportation and FAA Administrator to immediately stop Biden DEI hiring programs and return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring.
  • It also requires the FAA Administrator to review the past performance and performance standards of all FAA employees in critical safety positions and make clear that any individual who fails to demonstrate adequate capability is replaced by someone who will ensure Americans’ flight safety and efficiency.

MILLIONS OF AMERICANS RELY ON SAFE, TIMELY AIR TRAVEL EVERY DAY: Safety and competence should be the only job criteria for FAA employees, yet the Biden Administration violated the public trust—as well as the law—by prioritizing illegal DEI hiring.

  • Every day, more than 45,000 flights and 2.9 million airline passengers traveling for work or fun or to visit friends and family entrust their lives to the FAA.
  • Almost unbelievably, as a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative, the Biden FAA specifically recruited and hired individuals with “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric issues, and complete paralysis over other individuals who sought to work for the FAA.
  • President Trump is immediately terminating this illegal and dangerous program and requiring that all FAA hiring be based solely on ensuring the safety of airline passengers and overall job excellence.
    • On January 11, 2023, two weeks after a major holiday airline crisis, an FAA system outage caused by employees missteps grounded all flights for the first time since 9/11, an illustration of the importance of FAA competence.

FULFILLING PROMISE TO END ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION AND BRING BACK COMMON SENSE: This Presidential Memorandum builds on President Trump’s day-one Executive Order ending the Biden Administration’s illegal and immoral DEI discrimination programs.

  • In his inaugural address, President Trump promised: ““We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.”

President Trump stated in his January 20, 2025 Executive Order on Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing: “Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”