A team from SpaceX is being brought in to overhaul FAA’s air traffic control system
1 min read
Summary
Elon Musk’s SpaceX team is to visit the Air Traffic Control Command Center in Virginia to help overhaul the system that is under heightened scrutiny following a midair collision that killed 67 people.
The Trump administration has targeted thousands of federal employees for elimination and the FAA has recently fired hundreds of probationary employees who maintain critical air traffic control infrastructure.
The union representing them says it is in the “hundreds” but the exact number is unknown.
Musk’s company SpaceX is a major government contractor, and critics have pointed out the conflict of interest this presents as the FAA tried to downplay the significance of the crash by suggesting air traffic control error was a contributing factor.
The SpaceX team are in Virginia to “get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.