US senator urges FAA to remove "all conflicts of interest" with Elon Musk

The past week or two has been a very difficult one for aviation in the United States of America. The nation has been faced with several tragic aviation incidents that have fostered fear regarding some of the country's aging infrastructure and understaffed facilities.

On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, an American Eagle flight operated by wholly-owned subsidiary PSA Airlines collided with a Blackhawk helicopter moments before arrival at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people and becoming the deadliest aviation accident in the United States in 25 years.

Following this accident, a Learjet departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport crashed into a nearby suburb moments after takeoff, killing 7 people.

And most recently, a Bering Air commuter aircraft mysteriously crashed while operating a flight to Nome, Alaska, killing all 10 people on board. In the wake of all of these accidents, many Americans are concerned about the safety of air travel.

But as lawmakers and government agencies alike work to ensure the air travel system remains safe, one senator is concerned about conflicts of interest as a new administration takes hold in the White House.

Senator Cantwell expresses concern

Senator Maria Cantwell, a lawmaker from Washington state, has expressed concern over the Department of Transportation's connections to Elon Musk. Musk owns several companies, one of which is SpaceX.

SpaceX, which is known for its space missions, has a commercial space transport license and shares airspace with civil flights.

Because of this, the firm is subject to regulation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Musk will be involved in some elements of the FAA's safety processes and systems, something that Cantwell claims she was unaware of when she first agreed to work with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to accelerate the deployment of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).

As a result, she is insisting that Duffy remove the conflicts of interest between Musk and the FAA. In a letter to the Secretary of Transportation shared on bsky, the senator explained her concern:

"SpaceX has been fined by the FAA for failing to comply with specific requirements in its launch license. Mr. Musk, in turn, called for the firing of Mike Whitaker, the FAA Administrator who the Senate confirmed 98-0 because the FAA issued a fine against SpaceX for not following the rules. We have ethics and recusal laws for a reason-to prevent corporate interference in protecting the public interest."

Cantwell has shown clear concern for Musk's involvement in anything related to the FAA because some of his businesses, which directly impact his personal wealth, are regulated by the very agency he intends to get involved in.

Her fear is that this could lead to an abuse of power that comes at the expense of the well-being of the American people while improving Musk's personal finances.

The United States has an air traffic control problem

While the cause of the tragedy has not yet been confirmed, the recent PSA Airlines accident has brought serious attention to America's air traffic control problems.

Lawmakers like Cantwell are aiming to address them. Many facilities across the nation are understaffed, and a lot of the technology used in directing traffic is severely dated.

Again, these problems have not been deemed the cause of the accident, but an alarmingly high number of recent close calls indicate the consequences of improperly-staffed towers and facilities.

The cause of this shortage is complex, but the FAA is working to hire more air traffic controllers to ensure safe aircraft operations.

This is especially true in congested airspaces like the Northeastern United States, where many major air travel markets are located near each other (some with multiple airports).

As Cantwell outlined in her letter, in addition to addressing staffing shortages, members of the federal government are working to implement new air traffic management technology into the nation's airspace.

According to the FAA, the new system will allow for better capacity, safety, efficiency, and flexibility in US airspace. However, Cantwell is clearly concerned about who will be overseeing modernization processes.