4 months ago
15
(NewsNation) — A erstwhile Federal Aviation Administration authoritative said diverseness has "nothing to do" with aerial traffic power hiring, adding helium takes objection to President Donald Trump’s assertion it whitethorn person contributed to the deadly collision between a rider pitchy and subject helicopter Wednesday.
“There are precise strict requirements for aerial postulation control. It's a two-year process. It's intensive. It's a batch of training,” Randy Babbitt, who served arsenic the 16th head of the FAA, told NewsNation.
“You don't conscionable spell from the extremity of your 2 years to Chicago-O’Hare,” helium said.
Trump attacked the FAA’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies Thursday, claiming the bureau had committed to adding employees with the “most severe” disabilities due to the fact that they are portion of the “most underrepresented” information of the American workforce.
He added aerial postulation controllers needed to beryllium “geniuses.”
However, Trump aboriginal said determination is nary grounds the collision could beryllium blamed connected DEI hires.
“It conscionable could person been,” the president said.
Babbitt pushed backmost connected Trump, who blamed erstwhile Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama for DEI policies.
“I would instrumentality large exception. I would besides enactment that determination were 4 years betwixt Obama and Biden erstwhile President Trump was president, truthful I don't cognize what enactment helium took there, but helium surely was successful existence,” helium said.
When it comes to diverseness successful the FAA, Babbitt said it does not measurement heavier than skill.
“Airlines prosecute a batch of people, but not each of them are going to beryllium pilots. The FAA hires a batch of people, not each of them tin beryllium controllers,” helium said. “They person very, precise precocious standards to beryllium an aerial postulation controller, and that's important to remember. Diversity has thing to bash with it.”
