May 22, 2025 02:01 PM UTC

Sen. Hickenlooper Says It's Safe To Fly Trump's DOGE-y Skies*

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• by: Colorado Pols

With millions of Americans getting ready to hop on planes to travel for the long holiday weekend, Denver7’s investigative team, who was first to report on an alarming two-minute blackout of communications between air traffic controllers at the Denver ATC center in Longmont and almost two dozen planes in and around Denver International Airport, spoke with Sen. John Hickenlooper about what needs to be done–and whether in the meantime it’s safe to board a commercial flight:

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper told Denver7 Investigates on Wednesday that people should feel safe when flying, but he is still eager to get to the bottom of why as many as 20 pilots bound for Denver International Airport were unable to communicate with air traffic controllers in Longmont for a period of time last week…

He added that it’s also alarming that the Federal Aviation Administration has not provided answers to questions regarding what caused the outages and how long communications were down.

Hickenlooper said he also asked questions of the agency, but is still awaiting a response.

“I find that very concerning that it wasn’t publicly stated. We tried to call them in the last few days and have gotten no response,” he said. “And traditionally, when a United States senator reaches out to a federal agency and asks for information and updates, they get a response, usually within a few hours. … A federal government agency should respond when there’s a screw up. They’ve got to respond. They’ve got to answer the questions and it’s got to be prompt and transparent.”

But so far the FAA under Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been neither prompt nor transparent in their response, other than to point out with relief that no two aircraft experienced a catastrophic space/time conflict during the outage. After the first fatal commercial aviation accident in years in January, which President Donald Trump nonsensically blamed on “DEI programs,” a spate of close calls and other mishaps has raised further questions about air travel safety. In January, it was easy for the new administration to write off the tragedy as a legacy of the previous.

Four months later, it’s Trump’s FAA dropping the ball. The agency hotly disputes that the layoff of hundreds of employees is negatively impacting public safety, but that’s refuted by experts who say that air traffic controllers and other “mission-critical” employees rely on less senior workers who have been let go. Duffy, for his part, is calling for the investment of billions of dollars in upgrades to the nation’s air traffic control system–but the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” only funds a fraction of the estimated $31 billion Duffy wanted.

Unlike the 1980s when Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers, in 2025 all sides agree in theory that these workers are essential and need to be retained, not driven out of government service. But to say the current climate of mass layoffs, budget cuts, and essential services being curtailed on a chaotic whim is a deterrent to future qualified applicants could be a tremendous understatement. If leadership doesn’t respect talent, the talented apply elsewhere.

Like Hickenlooper, we say board that flight this holiday weekend. The economy needs you!

But keep in mind what really makes air travel safe. Qualified people who deserve better than they’ve gotten since January.