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Elon Musk backtracks on his mass DOGE firing with a public cry for the return of retired air traffic controllers. Since the onset of the Donald Trump administration, Musk, named a special government agent spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has toppled the employment and staffing structures within the federal workforce. As part of the DOGE initiative, several lawfully employed government workers, including probationary staff and veterans, have been axed in one of the biggest mass firings in US history. The Tesla CEO especially stirred fury with his recent FAA layoffs just last week, terminating over a hundred workers.
Days later, the billionaire appears to rethink his decision, taking to his X platform to urge some retired FAA personnel to “come back.” Via the social media post on Thursday, Elon Musk highlighted the shortage of top-notch air traffic controllers, urging retirees open to returning to give it a thought. He wrote,
“There is a shortage of top-notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so.”
Reactions as Musk Urges Retired Air Traffic Controllers to Return
Enraged netizens immediately turned to social media to highlight the irony in Musk’s desperate plea. They pointed out how the tech mogul has embarked on a firing rampage since the Trump administration, and yet had the guts to complain about the repercussions of his actions. Many also criticized his supposed genius solution to bring back retirees, pointing out the absurdity. One aggrieved fan wrote on X,
“They are retired! The only reason you want them returned is so you can mess up their pension!”
Another slammed Musk’s idea on Reddit, writing,
“Who wants to rejoin this dumpster fire? No one in their right mind would come back.”
Netizens also accused Elon Musk of reconsidering his mass firing in the case of air traffic controllers only because he realized it directly affects him and his DOGE minions. Referring to the crash of an American Airlines plane last month, one Reddit user noted,
“Yeah because you get into office and planes start going down left and right because you stress people out, Elon! Go Home! Go Away!”
A second shot,
“Don’t worry Elmo, I’m not getting on a plane as long as your dainty little fingers are touching government systems.”
Elon Musk’s sudden request to increase the federal workforce with more air traffic controllers sounds like a mockery of the very government he claims to protect given that just days earlier, he unrepentantly made ruthless moves to slim down the workforce, casting away tons of FAA workers among others. Although the Trump administration has claimed no air traffic controllers were among the FAA employees made jobless last week, it still beats the imagination to think the CEO of a recognized private sector and an unelected “special” government official could confidently wield such power over a country, to lay off or rehire at will.
Is Musk’s Public Plea a Solution to Aircraft Accidents?
It’s quite understandable when one considers that his request comes at a time when the flight industry finds itself in a national emergency of sorts. The fatal crash of the American Airlines plane just last month after colliding with a Black Hawk helicopter near the Reagan Washington National Airport has raised concerns about the quality of air traffic controllers on the job. In the wake of the crash, which led to 67 deaths, the pressing problem of shortage of air traffic controllers and the imminent dangers it poses became public knowledge, causing many to decry the mass firing of hundreds of FAA workers.
Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, who doubled down on claims that Elon Musk’s DOGE, under the Trump administration, let go of “less than 400 workers,” none of which were air traffic controllers, voiced intentions to increase safety in the flight industry. In an interview this month, he revealed his genius gameplan to do so, which involves increasing the mandatory retirement age of air traffic controllers, allowing them to work past 56. This would offset the existing laws requiring potential air traffic controllers to be younger than 31 years old at the time of application, and retire when they are 56.
This further highlights the craziness in Elon Musk’s latest desperate cry to boost the FAA workforce with retired traffic controllers. Unless the billionaire truly believes his Trump-bestowed authority allows him to unofficially change a longstanding government law with a simple tweet, one could only conclude Musk was simply playing on the intelligence of already aggrieved Americans in one sick joke. That way, watching him play God could be more bearable.
