The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer from “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other physical and mental conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative detailed on the agency’s website.
“Specific disabilities are those disabilities that the federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruiting and hiring,” the FAA website states. “They include hearing, vision, missing limbs, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.”
The initiative is part of the FAA’s “Diversity and Inclusion” hiring plan, which states that “diversity is critical to achieving the FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel throughout our nation and beyond.”
The FAA website shows that the agency’s guidelines on diversity hiring were last updated on March 23, 2022.
The FAA, overseen by Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s Department of Transportation, is a government agency charged with regulating civil aviation and employs approximately 45,000 people.
All eyes have been on the FAA and the airline industry in recent days, after a power outlet on a Boeing 737 Max 9 exploded during an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5.
The FAA grounded all 737 MAX 9 aircraft after the incident and is conducting a “thorough inspection” and maintenance work.
The Federal Aviation Administration is recruiting workers with “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other physical and mental conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative. AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File
The FAA added that it would increase its oversight of Boeing following the incident, including auditing Boeing’s 737 Max 9 aircraft production line and companies that supply parts to the airline manufacturer.
Following the incident, social media commentators and public figures have claimed that airlines and airline manufacturers’ emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has made flying less safe.
“Do you want to fly on a plane where they prioritized hiring DEI over your safety?” tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X last week. “That’s really happening.”
“The breakdown of DEI in the airline industry is much worse than you think,” Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh wrote in an op-ed last week.
A door plug that came off on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 is missing. National Transportation/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire
Critics of such comments have rejected the argument that prioritizing DEI has made travel less safe, with civil rights groups criticizing Musk, for example, for the “abhorrent and pathetic” tweet.
On the FAA website, the agency states that people with “severe” physical and mental disabilities are the most underrepresented segment of the federal workforce.
“Because diversity is so critical, the FAA actively supports and participates in a variety of partnerships, programs, coalitions and initiatives to support and accommodate employees from diverse communities and backgrounds. Our people are our strength and we take great care to invest in them and value them as such,” states the FAA.
When asked for comment on the initiative, including what roles people with disabilities would fill, the FAA told Fox News Digital that the agency searches and thoroughly vets qualified candidates “from as many sources as possible” for a variety of positions.
“The FAA employs tens of thousands of people for a wide range of positions, from administrative functions to supervision and execution of critical safety functions. “Like many large employers, the agency proactively seeks qualified candidates from as many sources as possible, all of whom must meet rigorous qualifications that will, of course, vary by position,” the FAA said.
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, president of Do No Harm, a group of health professionals, medical students and policymakers working to “protect health care from radical, divisive and discriminatory ideology,” told Fox News Digital That, as in the medical field, the aviation industry has an obligation to protect its travelers.
The FAA grounded all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft after the Alaska Airlines incident. NTSB/Handout via REUTERS
“The aviation industry has a responsibility for traveler safety just as the healthcare industry has a responsibility for patient safety. These responsibilities outweigh other factors when considering applicants to work in those fields. People with disabilities who can successfully complete the task should never face discrimination,” said Goldfarb, a retired professor and former associate dean of curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
“Unfortunately,” Goldfarb said, identity politics is “creating opportunities for so-called oppressed groups by lowering the standards of entry into those fields and therefore jeopardizing the safety of those it is designed to serve. “Some initiatives simply do not lend themselves to identity politics,” she added.
The FAA website describes that some managers can hire disabled people and veterans through an “on-site hiring process,” as long as the required documentation is submitted.
The FAA also details that employees with disabilities will be provided “reasonable accommodations” at work.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn