OAN’s Brooke Mallory
12:38 PM – Monday, January 15, 2024
In an effort to be more inclusive and diverse, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking to recruit individuals with mental health concerns and other disabilities that many travelers say would “make them feel unsafe” while flying if they knew that their pilot had struggled with these issues, according to Fox News.
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The FAA stated that, “Diversity is integral to achieving FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond.” The agency also added that diversity is “critical” in maintaining a successful workplace.
Under the People with Disabilities category on their website, the FAA announced that its People with Disabilities Program (PWD) gives those individuals equitable career possibilities.
“The FAA meets the goals of the PWD Program through a variety of practices:
Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring. [They include] hearing loss, vision loss, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability, and dwarfism.”
The flight agency also goes on to quote Democrat Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
“At its best, transportation can be a powerful engine of opportunity, connecting people to jobs, education, and resources—whether they live in a big city, a rural community, or anywhere in between,” Buttigieg said. “Ensuring equity and accessibility for every member of the traveling public is one of the Department of Transportation’s highest priorities.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced a motion last year to reduce Buttigieg’s salary to only one dollar due to his “repeated failures.”
“The measure, introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), was passed by a voice vote Tuesday as an amendment to the 2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.”
It’s also crucial to note that, according to Fox News, aviation lawyer Michael Pearson informed Tucker Carlson, a Fox News host at the time, in 2018 that the FAA was beginning to prioritize diversity over public safety when selecting air traffic controllers, and that this practice would become common practice.
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