Is flying safe right now? How Trump and Elon Musk cutting federal workers will endanger aviation safety even more

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. What is also plain, however, is that since it has come to power, the Trump administration has been aggressively pursuing policies that will make travelers’ odds inevitably worse. Trump started his current term with a promise to dramatically slash regulations, proclaiming that “whenever an agency promulgates a new rule, regulation, or guidance, it must identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to be repealed.” By wiping out government regulations across the entire industry, the administration is asking aircraft-makers and operators to follow their own rules. In 2023, the New York Times revealed that near misses between airliners have become endemic at airports across the country, “a sign of what many insiders describe as a safety net under mounting stress,” with a leading cause being “mistakes by air traffic controllers stretched thin by a nationwide staffing shortage.” Understaffing is not a problem that worries the Trump administration, however. But there’s a broader issue, which is that a great many FAA employees—not just air traffic controllers—positively affect aviation safety.