United States: The U.S. Transportation Department ordered staff to respond to President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk’s request to detail their weekly achievements before 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, as reported by Reuters.
Musk’s Request for Accountability
The USDOT employs a workforce of 57,000 people consisting of personnel from the Federal Aviation Administration whereas the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Railroad Administration oversee companies Bjogan (BA.N) and Tesla (TSLA.O).
Employees received departmental instructions through email to describe their accomplishments in bullet-point form while omitting classified data. Musk’s request as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has received responses from several agencies that have instructed their employees to disregard his demands.
“If you can’t come up with five things that you did, you know maybe you shouldn’t be employed here, so again, this is an easy task,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News on Monday.
Workforce Reductions and Staffing Challenges
The FAA eliminated 352 probationary employees, totaling 45,000 staff members, including the Transportation Security Administration, which fired 243 probationary employees under the Homeland Security Department. The Monday statement from NHTSA revealed its workforce reduction affected 4% of its personnel.
Air traffic controllers received buyout offers from the Trump administration, which later revealed they did not qualify for acceptance, nor did other safety officials meet eligibility requirements. Current FAA workforce numbers fall short of its designed staffing requirements by about 3,500 positions.
Plans to Improve Air Traffic Control Staffing
Air traffic delays continue while many facilities require controllers who perform overtime shifts spanning six days per week to maintain sufficient staffing levels, as reported by Reuters.
According to Duffy, he is developing a plan to enhance air traffic control staffing while reviewing airport operations regulation at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, which led to the fatal January collision.