Musk Promises "Rapid" Air Traffic Control Fixes Through DOGE

Following a deadly January 29, 2025, midair collision near Washington, D.C. that killed 67 people, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team would help overhaul the nation's air traffic control system. Musk said DOGE would pursue "rapid safety upgrades," with reporting indicating the team assigned to the task consisted of engineers in their late teens and twenties with limited relevant experience.

Aviation groups, including the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, along with lawmakers such as Senator Maria Cantwell, raised concerns about inserting an inexperienced, non-traditional team into one of the most safety-critical and heavily regulated systems in the federal government, especially so soon after a fatal crash.

Critics argued that air traffic control has historically prioritized incremental, rigorously tested changes precisely because failures can be catastrophic, and that branding an overhaul around speed and disruption ran counter to established aviation safety practice. The plan drew sustained scrutiny in the months that followed as DOGE's broader role in federal agencies expanded.