he new Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has given Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) his backing to access and upgrade the US air traffic control system.
On February 5, 2025, Duffy announced on social media he had “big news” adding that he had spoken to the DOGE team.
Musk, who set up DOGE to overhaul the Federal Government and apparently wipe billions of dollars of spending, later expanded on the plans for US aviation.
“With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system,” wrote Musk on social media.
While exact details on the plans were not put forward Musk appeared to be referring to Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) NOTAM system which provides essential information to personnel concerned with operations that could affect the safety of a flight.
“Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours,” added Musk.
The NOTAM system suffered an outage on February 2, 2025, that caused thousands of delays and hundreds of flight cancellations.
Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have been causing controversy in the US due to far-reaching powers that have seen department staff access the US Treasury’s payment system.
On hearing the news that DOGE would “plug in” to the US air traffic control system figures from the political world spoke out.
Former Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton wrote: “They have no relevant experience. Most of them aren’t old enough to rent a car. And you’re going to let them mess with airline safety that’s already deteriorated on your watch?”
Focus on aviation safety has come to the forefront in recent days after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed with an American Eagle Bombardier CRJ-700 in Washington DC, resulting in the deaths of 67 people.
