The job eliminations come after several crashes, including the midair collision that occurred in late January near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the accident that occurred last week at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada. When asked about the recent firings of Transportation Department employees, Duffy contended that 352 out of 46,000 Federal Aviation Administration employees were dismissed, equating to just 0.8% of FAA’s employment.

“These were probationary workers, they were employed for less than a year, so these weren’t the old school, really ingrained employees of the DOT,” Duffy explained on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “And not only that, we kept all the critical safety positions, and we actually hired more positions in the critical safety, like air traffic controllers. We hired more inspectors for things like pipelines and for aircraft. So again, we have a safety mission, but for people to say because we cut 352 people out of 46,000 that that’s a risk to safety? Give me a break. That’s just playing politics as opposed to saying, ‘Let’s cut the fat.’”

Duffy also expressed interest in the Transportation Department complying with Elon Musk’s demand for federal employees to reveal via emails what federal workers accomplish on a weekly basis, stating he has “no problem” with it. He added that this could help people recognize they are “public servant[s]” who will carry out the duties and vision of whoever is president. 

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The transportation secretary also contended that “every department is different” and that some should pause on mandating these weekly emails for employees. FBI Director Kash Patel, for instance, has instructed FBI personnel to “pause any responses” on these emails.

Duffy detailed how he is seeking to “surge” air traffic controllers to increase the safety of air travel, adding that some air traffic control centers are still using floppy disks and “really old technology” and that the Transportation Department is seeking to modernize its technology within a year and a half. Early this month, the secretary also announced plans to incentivize veteran air traffic controllers to stay on board as newer recruits are still being trained.