The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh released footage of senior officials in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) “Flight Programs Operation” division discussing plans to reduce the number of white males in aviation.
BREAKING: I've obtained internal footage of senior officials at the FAA's Flight Program Operations division — which is responsible for all aspects of aircraft operations — workshopping a plan to reduce the number of white males in aviation. 🧵
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 7, 2024
The footage released by Walsh is from a video conference from April 2022 between Deputy Chief Operating Officer Angela McCullough, Vice President of Flight Program Operations David Riggins and other senior officials.
According to Walsh, McCullough says that more workers need to move from “ramp to cockpit” in an apparent call to see more baggage handlers become pilots. She also complains that flight operations is a “white male dominated” profession while asking the other officials to talk about what the future could look like.
“That’s great, honestly. Those are some words that we really need to spend some time digging through and thinking about,” Riggins said, agreeing with McCullough’s sentiments.
The footage was leaked just one month after a large piece of a Boeing 737 blew out in mid-air. Luckily, no passengers were hurt, but the bad publicity remains. According to NBC News, the door panel that fell off did not have any bolts installed on the door plug.
“Photo documentation obtained from Boeing shows evidence of the left-hand MED plug closed with no retention hardware (bolts) in the three visible locations,” the preliminary report stated.
Walsh believes that the root cause of the problem is that the FAA appears to be focusing on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) to the detriment of public safety.
“Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard from several members of the aviation industry who tell me that DEI is endangering the public and distracting them from their work,” Walsh tweeted.
Walsh goes on to reveal, “A second source – a pilot I’ve confirmed works at Delta – tells me that Delta has recently promoted a trans-identifying pilot who repeatedly received bad reviews from captains. According to the source, this pilot ‘would likely not have’ survived probation if he weren’t trans.”
Elon Musk agreed with Walsh that DEI policies are being prioritized by the FAA over safety and that the public is feeling the effects.
Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening. https://t.co/FcTyzZD0uW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2024
