'The cuts do not affect us,' Delta CEO said about recent layoffs at the FAA
Delta CEO says President Trump's FAA cuts will not impact airline safety
Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian defended President Trump's cuts to the FAA while on CBS News and said the new administration was committed to investing in airline safety.
Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian said in a new interview that President Donald Trump's cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would not impact airline safety.
Bastian appeared on "CBS Mornings" on Wednesday to address the recent plane crash at Toronto-Pearson International Airport, where a Delta flight from Minneapolis overturned while landing at the Canadian airport.
All 80 people onboard were evacuated, the FAA said, and three of them were transported to local hospitals for critical injuries.
The disaster followed deadly air crashes in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Nome, Alaska, in the last month.
The Delta CEO was asked if he was concerned that the Trump administration's recent layoffs at the FAA would impact airline safety.
A Delta Air Lines plane heading from Minneapolis to Toronto crashed at Toronto's Pearson Airport, Monday Feb. 17, 2025. (Teresa Barbieri/The Canadian Press via AP)
"Do those cuts worry you and do you think that impacts safety?" "CBS Mornings" co-anchor Gayle King asked Bastian.
She referenced how the recent plane crashes were making Americans worried about flying.
"Do these cuts affect you?" she repeated.
"The cuts do not affect us, Gayle," Bastian said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian defended the Trump administration's federal cuts when asked if they would impact airline safety. (CBS/Screenshot)
"I've been in close communication with the Secretary of Transportation. I understand that the cuts at this time are something that are raising questions, but the reality is there's over 50,000 people that work at the FAA. And the cuts, I understand, were 300 people, and they were in non-critical safety functions," he continued.
"The Trump administration has committed to investing deeply in terms of improving the overall technologies that are used in the air traffic control systems and modernizing the skies. They've committed to hiring additional controllers and investigators, and safety investigators. So no, I'm not concerned with that at all," Bastian said.
The new administration's efforts to rein in federal spending through its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have come under scrutiny from Democrats.
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Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed this week in a post on X that Trump's "massive layoffs at the FAA" were making skies "less safe." (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
In a post on X this week, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed that Trump's "massive layoffs at the FAA" were making skies "less safe."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday that fewer than 400 employees were let go from the agency and clarified that they all had been hired less than a year ago.
"Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go," he posted to X, responding to criticism from former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
A Department of Transportation spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement this week that the FAA is continuing to hire and onboard "air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them." The spokesperson also said that the "agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions."
The Trump administration has promised a thorough review and update of air traffic control systems nationwide after a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight about to land at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29 killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft. It was the United States' deadliest aviation disaster since 2001.
According to a Fox News Digital analysis of federal data, there were five fatal plane crashes during the first four weeks of President Trump's term versus ten fatal crashes during the first four weeks of President Biden's term.
Fox Business' Daniella Genovese and Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
