FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities

The Federal Aviation Administration is proactively recruiting workers with “severe” intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses, and other mental and physical illnesses under its Diversity and Inclusion Hiring Initiative, articulated on the agency's website. It is adopted in

The FAA's website states: “A qualifying disability is one that the federal government has identified as a policy of special emphasis in recruiting and employment.” “These include hearing, vision, and limb deficiencies, partial and complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, mental disability, and dwarfism.”

The initiative is part of the FAA's Diversity and Inclusion employment plan, which states that “diversity is essential to achieving the FAA's mission to ensure safe and efficient travel domestically and internationally.” claims. According to the FAA website, the agency's guidelines on diversity hiring were last updated on March 23, 2022.

The FAA, overseen by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, is the government agency responsible for regulating civil aviation and employs about 45,000 people.

Elon Musk Dins buys Boeing after Alaska Airlines concerns: 'DEI jobs are a priority'

The FAA and the airline industry have been in the spotlight in recent days after the plug door of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 exploded during an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5th. Following the incident, the FAA will ground all 737 MAX 9 aircraft and conduct “thorough inspections” and maintenance work.

A Federal Aviation Administration sign on the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

The FAA added that it will step up its oversight of Boeing in response to the incident, including audits of Boeing's 737 Max 9 jetliner production line and companies that supply parts to the aircraft maker.

After the incident, social media commenters and celebrities accused airlines and carriers of making planes less safe because of their emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Alaska Airlines is canceling all flights on its Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft through January. 13 After air door blowout

“Would you want to fly on a plane that prioritized DEI jobs over your safety?” tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X last week. “That's actually happening.”

“DeI corruption in the airline industry is much worse than you think,” Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh wrote in an op-ed last week.

Critics of such commentary push back on claims that prioritizing DEI has made travel less safe, with civil rights groups condemning Musk's “abhorrent and pathetic” tweets, for example. .

A 737 MAX 9 test aircraft at Boeing Field in Seattle on March 22, 2019. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

On its website, the FAA claims that people with “severe” mental and physical disabilities are the most underrepresented segment of the federal workforce.

“Because diversity is so important, the FAA actively supports and works with various associations, programs, coalitions, and initiatives to support and include employees from diverse communities and backgrounds. .Our people are our strength, and we take great care in investing in and evaluating our people.''As such,'' the FAA states.

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, president of Do No Harm, a group of medical professionals, medical students and policy makers working to “defend health care from radical, divisive and discriminatory ideologies,” said Fox News Digital Similarly to the medical field, he said the following: The airline industry has a duty to protect travelers.

'Recruit for diversity': Biden co-chiefs nominees put DEI at the 'front line' of Air Force leadership

“Just as the healthcare industry has a responsibility for patient safety, the airline industry also has a responsibility for traveler safety. These responsibilities weigh above other factors when considering applicants to work in these fields. “People with disabilities who are able to successfully perform those duties should never be subjected to discrimination,” said Goldfarb, former associate dean of curriculum and former professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

“Covered Disabilities” section of the FAA’s Diversity and Inclusion page. (FAA.gov)

Goldfarb said, “Unfortunately, identity politics creates opportunities for so-called oppressed groups by lowering the bar for entry into the field, and as a result, aims to serve the field.'' “It's putting people's safety at risk. Some initiatives are completely unsuitable for identity politics.” ,” he added.

Boeing fires 65 employees and disciplines 53 for racist behavior, company announces

Fox News Digital reached out to the FAA for more information about what jobs people with disabilities can do at the agency, but did not receive a response Sunday. The website states that some managers can hire people with disabilities and veterans through an “instant hiring process” if they submit the necessary documentation.

The FAA also details that employees with disabilities will be provided with “reasonable accommodations” on the job.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

According to its website, the FAA's reasonable accommodations “ensure that employees with disabilities are provided with accommodations that meet their needs, including accommodations in addition to existing accommodations or special equipment.” There may be changes.”