The Trump administration has begun firing hundreds of probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union.
On February 15, 2025, David Spero, the National President of PASS, announced in a statement that the union is “troubled and disappointed by the administration’s decision to fire FAA probationary employees without cause nor based on performance or conduct.” PASS represents more than 11,000 FAA and Department of Defense workers.
Spero added that “several hundred” workers began to receive firing notices on February 14, 2025, after 19:00 local time, and the notifications continued late into the night. He also noted that it is “possible that others will be notified” over the weekend of February 15–16, 2025 or could be “literally barred from entering” FAA facilities from February 18, 2025.
However, many of the affected employees received messages from an “exec order” Microsoft email address, which is not an official government email, the statement continued.
“These are not nameless, faceless bureaucrats,” Spero stated. “They are our family, friends and neighbors. They contribute to our communities. Many military veterans are among them. It is shameful to toss aside dedicated public servants who have chosen to work on behalf of their fellow Americans.”
According to Spero, FAA employees were “devoted to their jobs”, and this decision “will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin.”
“This decision did not consider the staffing needs of the FAA, which is already challenged by understaffing,” he added. “Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agency’s mission-critical needs. To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety. And it is especially unconscionable in the aftermath of three deadly aircraft accidents in the past month.”
During his first week in office, US President Donald Trump issued several orders regarding federal workers. On January 28, 2025, the White House introduced a “deferred resignation offer” that impacts two million full-time civilian federal jobs.
On January 21, 2025, Trump dismissed the former Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske and warned that “over a thousand” others might face the same fate.
However, on February 3, 2025, the Trump administration declared that full-time federal employees in public safety positions, including air traffic control (ATC) workers, would not be asked to resign under the “deferred resignation offer.”
