Bao Chau

8 May 2025

On January 29, 2025, a plane collided with a helicopter at the Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing sixty-seven people [12]. Many have cited the incident as a cause of President Trump firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees. Though it is not certain yet whether that is true, the accident brings national attention to an issue that has been prevalent in America’s airline industry. Even before the firings, airlines have dealt with substantial employee shortages. With a globalized world, the demand for airline travel is only going to increase. Without enough workers to keep up, disastrous accidents are only going to become more prevalent, and thus, there needs to be a way to attract more citizens into the field, primarily in maintenance, air traffic control, and piloting. 

The tragedy on January 29 was not an isolated incident. The Reagan airport has had a history of close calls. According to the New York Times, “In July 2018, three military helicopters traveling south along the Potomac River came seconds away from smashing into a plane that was arriving at Ronald Reagan National Airport” [12]. The FAA used the near tragedy as a case study to teach air traffic controllers on what to avoid when guiding pilots, but more similar encounters persisted, leading to the eventual crash about seven years later [12]. Pilots in the January 29 crash may have been dealing with air conditions that would have been difficult for any pilot to maneuver. However, the Reagan airport specifically is typically one of the busiest, while also being understaffed by twenty percent [12]. 

Staff shortages are common across U.S. airports. According to the data obtained from the New York Times, “More than 90 percent of the country’s 313 air traffic control facilities operate below the Federal Aviation Administration’s recommended staffing levels” [7]. When there are not enough available employees, the employees that are available become overworked, increasing the chances of mistakes. In the case of air traffic controllers, such mistakes lead to fatal accidents. 

The situation worsens—as in 2024, Congress passed a bill that “increases the number of daily round-trip flights allowed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport” [4]. The airport runs on a slot system that limits the amount of flights allowed per day, and as major consumers, lawmakers wanted to increase the amount of available slots [1]. Limiting the amount of plane activity at the airport is essential, as passenger planes share the site with a number of helicopters on a narrow runway [12]. In fact, the airport was “originally built to accommodate 15 million passengers annually, [but] Reagan sees 25 million travelers every year” [9]. Not only is there an insufficient number of workers at Reagan airport, but there is an excessive number of passengers; thus, there is an even larger shortage of workers for airline operations at the airport than intended. 

The D.C. crash is the most recent, intense tragedy highlighting issues in aviation, but it is not unprecedented. Though numbers vary on what is the exact percentage of airline crashes caused by human error, multiple sources, including NASA, claim the number to be at least 70 percent [9]. Though plane crashes are not common, when they do occur, they are most likely caused by human error. Therefore, the low amount of workers that have to work longer hours, increases the chances of a crash occurring. Furthermore, the airline traveling business is not slowing down. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), “the demand for air transport will increase by an average of 4.3% per annum over the next 20 years” [2]. While there may be more airlines needed, America—though not exclusively—does not have enough workers currently to keep up. If this disparity persists, it is only a matter of time till more accidents occur. 

The aviation industry’s lack of workers can be attributed in large part to the low salaries. According to the Center for American Progress, “wages in airport service occupations fall below the private sector standard and… more than 3 in 10 workers… do not receive employer-provided health insurance” [3]. When workers are not owed decent wages and benefits, both the issue of attracting new workers, and keeping current ones, become apparent. Poor pay that leads to poor qualities of life not only contributes to a lack of workers in the field, but also to an increased chance of current workers making errors due to stress in their lives. The issue of airline wages is similar to low wages in every other American industry; airports tend to hesitate cutting back on airline trips and wages in order to maintain profits. The solution would be to increase wages, but as is widely known, it is easier said than done. While the aviation industry waits on long-term economic policies to solve its labor issues, other initiatives can be established. 

In response to the Reagan airport crash, “President Trump blamed diversity requirements at the Federal Aviation Administration” [10]. However, DEI itself could be the solution. One way the U.S. aviation industry can acquire more workers is by targeting communities of color. In The Black Experience in Business Aviation: An Exploratory Case Study, aviation professor Tara Harl and aviation expert Phil Roberts outlined the lack of African Americans in the aviation industry. Due to educational boundaries, there is both a lack of representation and acknowledgement of Black people in aviation [4]. The same applies for women—excluding Amelia Earhart—and other minorities. In the U.S., “only 3.4% of U.S. airline pilots are Black, 2.2% are of Asian descent, and 0.5% are Hispanic or Latino. Women make up just 4.6%” [13]. Some lawmakers are already addressing these barriers. In Georgia, Senator Raphael Warnock passed the Airways Act, which “would provide public and non-profit educational institutions with the resources they need to address the shortage of pilots, mechanics, and manufacturers” [13]. The act would financially support aviation programs that are offered in Georgia universities. Senator Warnick passed the act with the intention of having more people of color be interested and supported in working for airlines. The act is a blueprint as to what other lawmakers should do regarding airline labor shortages. 

Also noted in the article was that “[Middle Georgia State] is one of a few institutions in the United States that offer baccalaureate degrees in aviation” [13]. There are hundreds of Aviation degree-accredited programs in the U.S, and though that may seem like a large amount, it is miniscule in comparison to other degrees offered [1]. When looking at some of the top universities, like the Ivies, none offer a degree in aviation. This is the same for the top most applied to colleges, like the UCs and NYU [8]. Taking a similar approach with Senator Warnick, state governments can pass funding to universities to invest in aviation programs, especially in public universities that are already government funded and attract many state residents. 

Another barrier for people breaking into aviation is the cost of pilot licenses. 1,500 hours are required to be a commercial pilot [5]. A certificate for a private pilot is about $15,000 to $20,000, while a commercial pilot is about $55,000 to $100,000 [5]. For people that are interested in flying, a private license is already expensive, and when flying commercially requires more than twice the amount of money than flying privately, people are discouraged from pursuing aviation careers. Furthermore, for minorities who are more likely to have lower salaries, the prices of piloting licenses exacerbates the issue of minority representation in the field. In order for piloting to be a more accessible profession, the costs of pilot licenses should be reduced. Governments can implement subsidies that lower such costs, or provide programs that give aid to people below a certain income threshold hoping to go to flight school. 

Though traveling by air is typically safer than daily forms of transportation like driving, aviation disasters should be prevented when they can be. In a globalized world, people rely on airline travel more than ever. If labor shortages persist, it is only a matter of time till another fatal accident occurs. 

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Works Cited

[1] Fahrenthold, David  A., Karoun Demirjian, Christine Chung, and Kate Kelly. “Congress Approved More Flights at Reagan Despite Warnings of Danger.” nytimes.com, January 30, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/reagan-airport-flights-congress.html. 

[2] “Future of Aviation .” icao.int. Accessed March 19, 2025. https://www.icao.int/Meetings/FutureOfAviation/Pages/default.aspx. 

[3] Glass, Aurelia, and Karla Walter. “Too Many Airport Service Workers Earn Low Wages and Benefits.” americanprogress.org, March 7, 2023. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/too-many-airport-service-workers-earn-low-wages-and-benefits/#:~:text=The%20federal%20government%20sets%20a,the%20new%20minimum%20as%20well. 

[4] Harl, Tara L. Dr. and Roberts, Phil (2011) “The Black Experience in Business Aviation: An Exploratory Case Study,” Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 4.

[5] “How Much Does It Cost to Become a Pilot?” pilotinstitute.com, February 26, 2023. https://pilotinstitute.com/pilot-license-cost/#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20fly,An%20error%20occurred. 

[6] “H.R.3185 – DCA Act of 2023.” congress.gov. Accessed March 19, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2799. 

[7] Krolik, Aaron. “285 of 313 Air Traffic Control Facilities Are Understaffed.” nytimes.com, January 31, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/business/air-traffic-controllers-understaffed.html. 

[8] “Mission: Accepted! College Admissions – the 20 Most Applied-to Colleges in 2024.” missionaccepted.international. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://www.missionaccepted.international/the-20-most-applied-to-colleges-in-2024. 

[9] Rogelberg, Sasha. “Reagan Airport, the Notoriously Congested Destination of the Crashed American Airlines Flight, Experienced at Least 8 near-Miss Accidents Last Year Alone.” fortune.com, January 30, 2025. https://fortune.com/2025/01/30/reagan-airport-near-miss-accidents-american-airlines-crash/. 

[10] Sanger, David  E. “Trump Blames D.E.I. and Biden for Crash under His Watch.” nytimes.com, January 30, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/politics/trump-plane-crash-dei-faa-diversity.html. 

[11] Shively, Jay. “If Human Error Is the Cause of Most Aviation Accidents, Then Shouldn’t We Remove the Human?” Washington, DC: United States, August 12, 2013. 

[12] Steel, Emily, and Sydney Ember. “‘Risk of a Collision and Loss of Life’: D.C. Crash Warnings Were Years in the Making.” nytimes.com, February 13, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/business/dc-plane-crash-control-tower-reagan.html. 

[13] Umontuen, Itoro  N. “Senator Warnock’s Newly-Passed Legislation Tackles Diversity and Employment Gaps in the Aviation Industry.” theatlantavoice.com, June 14, 2024. https://theatlantavoice.com/race-and-aviation/.