Trump administrator accuses Buttigieg of “juicing” figures related to air traffic controllers

The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation is raising the bar for applicants seeking to become air traffic controllers, and officials say it will reduce the industry’s high flush rates.

Meanwhile, the department argued that the Biden administration’s decision to lower applicant standards in its first term has contributed to applicants Higher churn ratewhile exaggerating the number of candidates entering the industry.

“By eliminating the best qualified category and reducing the way the best scorer is defined, Biden and Buttigieg juice the digital, making them seem to create dents in the shortage of air traffic controllers,” a spokesman for the Transportation Department told Fox News Digital.

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According to DOT sources, the Biden administration has canceled the “best qualified” layer for candidates who score 85% or higher in the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA) exam. According to data from internal agency PowerPoint in 2023, the standard is replaced by a wider “qualified” category, which includes at least 80% of candidates who share with Fox News Digital.

Trump’s transport secretary: “They lowered the standards from 85% to 80% to get these young people into the academy.” Sean Duffy Miranda Devine of the New York Post refers to the Federal Aviation Training Center in Oklahoma City.

According to the second Trump administration, the Air Traffic Control Academy standards are restored to a four-tier system that includes 90% or more of “best qualifications”, “qualified”, scores between 85% and 89%, “qualified”, scores between 70% and 84%, and then eventually “not referenced” with scores below 70%.

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A DOT official said that distinguishing it from the highest performers and allowing the highest performers to get the first draft pick in the training task makes the candidate more likely to complete the academy. Sources pointed out that different airspaces require different training programs.

The official cites a Department of Transportation report before Trump returns to the office: “Although lower score selection can help increase the number of candidates applicable to support that candidate FAA’s recruitment goals, It may not help with better graduation and program success rates. ”

The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation is raising standards for air traffic controller applicants, believing that weaker standards under former President Joe Biden have not improved the shortfalls faced by the industry. (Boris Rossler/Picture Alliance by Getty Images)

“[The Biden administration] “It’s hard to determine the best, smartest, exacerbated flushing rates. Secretary Duffy’s priority is safety – which is why he has restored the appropriate standards and prioritized the best and smartest position in the academy, which is part of his assistant initiative.”

Earlier this year Pete Buttigieg“We haven’t changed the strict standards for becoming certified air traffic controllers,” Biden, a former transport secretary, said on social media, calling those who say a lot of “wrong or lie.”

“We did increase funding and training and, after years of falling numbers under Trump’s leadership, increased the ATC workforce.”

Former Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke in a briefing on busy holiday air travel among reporters at Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, a Buttigieg spokesperson responded to criticism of weaker standards that the pre-selected Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA) exam “has nothing to do with the criteria for becoming a certified ATC.”

“There is still the lowest eligibility criteria, and this line has not changed. You still need to do the test. And that test has not changed,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesman for Buttigieg also described the Trump administration’s allegations as “desperate attempts” about a shortage of air traffic controllers under Trump.

“The fact is that during Trump’s first term, certified controller staffing declined,” the spokesman said. “But under Secretary Buttigieg’s watch, the FAA reversed years of decline in staffing, achieving an aggressive recruitment goal last year and creating momentum for a more aggressive recruitment goal this year.”