SpaceX personnel met with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Monday to discuss potential improvements in safety protocols following recent plane crashes. The meeting is part of an ongoing effort to enhance aviation standards and ensure that SpaceX's operations comply with the highest safety regulations. The discussions are expected to focus on identifying key areas where procedures can be strengthened to prevent further incidents.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy recently welcomed a team from SpaceX to the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Virginia as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seeks input from Elon Musk’s company on creating "a new, better, modern, and safer system" for air traffic management. In a social media statement, Duffy stressed that President Donald Trump deserves assurance of safe travel from point A to point B, committing to revamp the industry to enhance safety standards.
“To do that, I need advice from the brightest minds in America. I’m asking for help from any high-tech American developer or company that is willing to give back to our country,” Duffy said.
During the visit, Musk’s SpaceX team will “plug-in” and gain insight into the existing system. They will also understand air traffic controllers' preferences and frustrations with their current tools and collaborate on designing a more advanced, efficient, and safer system for the future.
By leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration, Musk is classified as a special government employee. However, it is unclear whether the Tesla CEO will have anything to do with the meeting with the FAA.
Following Duffy’s meeting announcement, Musk wrote on x that the “safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter.”
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“SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer,” he continued, adding that his advisory board would make “rapid safety upgrades” to air traffic control systems.
Duffy made clear that air travel safety is a “nonpartisan matter,” thereby rebutting potential criticisms from Democrats who blasted DOGE and the FAA.
“Because I know the media (and Hillary Clinton) will claim Elon’s team is getting special access, let me make clear that the @FAANews regularly gives tours of the command center to both media and companies,” Duffy wrote on X.
This comes after Trump fired several hundred FAA employees, including those hired to maintain radar, landing, and navigational aids.
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