RICHMOND VA (Rocktown Now) — U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Edward J. Markey and nine of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford requesting answers on the impact of FAA workforce reductions on aviation safety, including among analytical staff who identify safety risks.

The senators also inquired about comments by FAA officials suggesting the agency is using artificial intelligence to analyze safety data to identify risks.

“The tragic crash of American Airlines flight 5342 highlighted serious gaps in our aviation safety system and demonstrated the need for a robust and experienced analytical workforce at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Unfortunately, over the past six months, your agency has significantly reduced its workforce. We are deeply concerned about these reductions’ impact on aviation safety,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the crash of American Airlines flight 5342 has demonstrated the need for a robust FAA workforce, beyond the air traffic controllers and other FAA personnel on the front lines of our aviation system. According to the NTSB investigation, more than 15,000 ‘close proximity events’ occurred at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport over the last five years—reflecting a shockingly high trend that the FAA should have identified… It’s critical that this Administration ensures the FAA has the workforce capacity to proactively and properly analyze aviation safety data to prevent another crash like the American Airlines flight 5342 tragedy,” the senators continued.

“In the aftermath of the crash, the FAA should be analyzing the near miss data from events at Reagan National Airport and reviewing the sufficiency of FAA staffing. Instead, the agency has moved ahead with workforce reductions. In particular, FAA fired hundreds of probationary employees in critical support roles key to assisting air traffic controllers in doing their jobs,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers requested the following information by August 11, 2025:

  1. For each FAA line of business and its relevant suboffices, please provide the (a) number of employees employed as of January 1, 2025, (b) number of employees employed as of July 1, 2025, and (c) the current number of job openings.
  2. For each FAA line of business and its relevant suboffices, please indicate whether any of its job positions are currently subject to a hiring freeze as of January 20, 2025.
  3. Please provide the analysis conducted by the Office of Airports related to the impact of workforce cuts on its safety mission.
  4. Besides the Office of Airports, please explain if any other FAA line of business has conducted an analysis of the impact of workforce cuts on its ability to deliver its mission. If so, please provide those analyses.
  5. Please explain all relevant FAA lines of business and relevant suboffices charged with identifying aviation safety trends and possible safety risks affecting airport operations in congested airspace.
  6. What specific AI tools is the FAA using to analyze aviation safety impacts and flight data and how is this improving FAA’s analysis? Does the FAA have adequate staff, familiar with these tools, to manage this analysis and ensure the security of the data used and generated by AI?

In addition to Warner, Kaine, and Markey, the letter was cosigned by Senators Angela Alsobrooks, Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Mazie Hirono, Jeff Merkley, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, and Peter Welch.

Warner and Kaine have long championed aviation safety and spoken out against federal workforce reductions at the FAA and other agencies.

Following the January 29, 2025, collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Warner and Kaine demanded answers from the FAA on additional safety measures to protect the public and expressed concerns about the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency in addressing issues that led to the mid-air collision.

The senators also introduced legislation to strengthen aviation safety. Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, successfully got a provision included in the committee-passed Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act to require that all Department of Defense aircraft that operate near commercial airports be equipped with broadcast positioning technology.

Earlier this year, Kaine invited Jason King, a veteran from Fairfax who was fired from his position in the FAA’s safety division, as his guest to the State of the Union address. King was rehired after the State of the Union.

Full text of the letter is available here.