Air traffic controller shortage of 3,800 due to DEI practices cutting 'too white, too elite' candidates - lawyer | 10 Feb 2025 | A critical shortage of 3,800 air traffic controllers is because of the Federal Aviation Administration's DEI practices leaving a "gaping hole" in recruitment, a lawyer claimed to The Post. Over 1,000 would-be air traffic controllers were wiped out from consideration overnight because of diversity and inclusion hiring targets suddenly being implemented, according to the lead lawyer in a class-action lawsuit against the FAA. Michael Pearson told The Post his clients had completed all their training at FAA-approved institutions before they were placed in a direct hiring pool for air traffic controllers -- as was standard at the time. Within months of graduating, they were informed by the FAA they would need to pass a new "biographical assessment" which, he claimed, awarded extra points to people with "no aviation experience." According to the attorney, 95 percent of the previously qualified candidates he represents then failed that assessment and were "screened out."