{"id":80798,"date":"2025-07-21T14:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/80798\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T14:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:12:11","slug":"pete-buttigiegs-dot-spent-80-billion-on-dei-grants-delayed-air-traffic-control-upgrades-records-industry-insiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/80798\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Buttigieg’s DOT spent $80 billion on DEI grants, delayed air traffic control upgrades: records, industry insiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg failed to replace outdated air traffic control systems while in office \u2014 with his agency instead shelling out tens of billions of dollars on a DEI agenda<\/a>, according to federal spending records and airline industry insiders.<\/p>\n

In one meeting, Buttigieg \u2014 who is said to be eyeing a 2028 presidential run \u2014 told industry executives that air traffic control upgrades would just allow them to fly more planes, \u201cand so why would that be in his interest?,\u201d sources said.<\/p>\n

Buttigieg told industry executives that air traffic control upgrades would just allow them to fly more planes. Getty Images<\/p>\n

What his department was really interested in was handing out hundreds of diversity, equity and inclusion grants totaling more than $80 billion over four years \u2014 at least half of the DOT\u2019s entire budget for a typical fiscal year, records show.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was definitely pushing an agenda<\/a>,\u201d an air industry official said, noting the transportation secretary had \u201clittle to no interest\u201d and took \u201cdefinitely zero action\u201d toward air traffic control modernization.<\/p>\n

Buttigieg spent his time in President Joe Biden\u2019s cabinet blaming the airlines for their delays and \u201cvilifying\u201d the industry as a whole while denying his department\u2019s DEI agenda<\/a> led to any air traffic control staffing shortages or was maintaining an ailing safety system that hasn\u2019t been updated since the Carter administration<\/a>, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was definitely pushing an agenda,\u201d an air industry official said. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The flying public paid the price, insiders said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, [the Department of Transportation] and he were reluctant to say there was an air traffic controller shortage or that the shortage had anything to do with flight delays or flight cancellations,\u201d the air industry official said.<\/p>\n

Chris Meagher, a spokesman for Buttigieg, rejected both claims and pointed to increased air traffic controller hiring under the former transportation big, as well as software changes<\/a> to improve efficiency at airport runways, new flight routes projected to cut up to 100 hours off travel time annually and the development of communications technology to decrease flight delays.<\/p>\n

Buttigieg spent his time in Biden\u2019s cabinet blaming the airlines for their delays and \u201cvilifying\u201d the industry as a whole. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s infrastructure law also provided $5 billion<\/a> to improve air traffic facilities\u2019 towers and power systems, he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuggesting that Secretary Buttigieg chose not to pursue air traffic control modernization is absurd,\u201d said Meagher, adding that Biden\u2019s budget request for fiscal year 2025 included another $8 billion in funding that congressional Republicans blocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Buttigieg\u2019s focus was always on safety \u2014 not just in aviation, but also on roads and bridges, where 40,000 Americans die on our country\u2019s roads each year. Fixing issues with air traffic control was a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Meagher, a spokesman for Buttigieg, rejected both claims and pointed to increased air traffic controller hiring under the former transportation big. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The DOT\u2019s Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows<\/a> that most flight cancellations (54.3%) were caused by weather during Buttigieg\u2019s term, whereas a little more than one-third (34.7%) were attributable to air carriers. Just 10.6% were due to failures in the national aviation system.<\/p>\n

Nearly 80% of flights were on time between January 2021 and 2025<\/a>. Almost 7% of delays were due to air carriers, another 7% for late-arriving aircraft, and 5% was attributable to the aviation system. Less than 1% were attributable to weather.<\/p>\n

Airline industry officials acknowledged that carrier delays persisted coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic but argued that much of the infrastructure law\u2019s funding \u201cwent to maintenance\u201d of facilities and equipment, which is roughly $3.5 billion annually, not \u201cmodernization.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Joe Biden\u2019s infrastructure law also provided $5 billion to improve air traffic facilities\u2019 towers and power systems. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

They argued that while hiring improved in recent years, there was still a high dropout rate and surging retirements from veteran air traffic controllers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you start with a thunderstorm early in the day, and it ripples throughout the day, which is the way it usually works \u2026 by the time you get to the eighth flight \u2026 it\u2019s just tagged as a late-arriving aircraft,\u201d an industry official said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what the original cause of the delay was, that always gets tagged to us as our fault.\u00a0So it\u2019s a complicated story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the requested changes to the air traffic control systems early in his term, Buttigieg seemed more interested in being \u201cgood on TV\u201d than fixing the archaic systems<\/a> that were flying up to 182 million passengers per year, officials said.<\/p>\n

Nearly 80% of flights were on time between January 2021 and 2025. The Washington Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Federal Aviation Administration has been chronically understaffed for years, with the agency employing only around 80% of the target for certified professional controllers at least since fiscal year 2017, which airline officials argued was the main factor forcing delays and cancellations.<\/p>\n

In January 2023, the agency ordered the first nationwide grounding of flights since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that left thousands of passengers stranded. The 2023 grounding was due to an FAA system outage.<\/p>\n

In an urgent letter to Buttigieg\u2019s DOT in April 2024, air industry trade association officials warned that at the current rate of hiring, it could take as long as 90 years for the FAA to reach its targeted staffing levels in some of the critical New York air traffic control centers.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the focus of the department under Buttigieg also shifted, with roughly 400 DEI-related grants approved, according to a review of federal spending between 2021 and 2024.<\/p>\n

They argued that while hiring improved in recent years, there was still a high dropout rate and surging retirements from veteran air traffic controllers. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Just 60 grants for diversity, equity or inclusion initiatives were approved during the previous administration, totaling no more than a few billion dollars.<\/p>\n

Programs such as \u201cJustice40<\/a>\u201d ended up shelling out 55% of around $150 billion in infrastructure investments<\/a> to \u201cdisadvantaged communities,\u201d pursuant to an executive order Biden signed to \u201cadvance equitable outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law in 2021 provided much of the funding, but some Democrats were critical of the outcomes \u2014 including a $5 billion equity effort to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations that resulted in just seven being built by June 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternal White House polling showed that airline issues and airline consumer issues were\u201d key polling successes, an industry official said. \u201cAt this point that White House didn\u2019t have a lot to sink their teeth into from a PR standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January 2023, the agency ordered the first nationwide grounding of flights since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that left thousands of passengers stranded. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Meagher said the department\u2019s DEI grants didn\u2019t delay \u201cthe work of the FAA\u201d and were \u201ca separate, siloed transportation mode.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can walk and chew gum at the same time,\u201d he responded. \u201cFAA operates completely separately than other modal administrations. So what happens at FHWA doesn\u2019t have a meaningful effect on FAA or NHTSA because they operate independently. It\u2019s separate staff, separate budgets, separate programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buttigieg often lashed out at the airlines, blaming the industry \u2014 not the FAA, which controls airspace nationwide \u2014 for canceling flights and bilking passengers through \u201cjunk fees<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just 12 days before the election, Buttigieg\u2019s DOT moved to implement a federal rule<\/a> giving passengers compensation for every delay and cancellation of up to $1,000, even if it was higher than the original fare, prompting a blistering statement from a top airline trade association calling it a political stunt.<\/p>\n

Meagher said the department\u2019s DEI grants didn\u2019t delay \u201cthe work of the FAA\u201d and were \u201ca separate, siloed transportation mode.\u201d AP<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Buttigieg is proud of the work he did to improve the rights and protections of consumers \u2014 like making refunds automatic when airlines cancel a flight<\/a>, proposing a rule<\/a> to ensure parents can sit with their children for no charge when they fly, and ensuring individuals<\/a> that fly with wheelchairs are compensated if airlines damage them,\u201d Meagher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSDOT also ensured nearly $4 billion<\/a> in refunds to consumers as a result of investigations into consumer complaints.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Grizzle, who served under former President Barack Obama as the FAA\u2019s chief counsel, acting deputy administrator and chief operating officer of its Air Traffic Organization, pointed out that paying \u201cless attention to aviation than highways or bridges\u201d wasn\u2019t abnormal for a transportation secretary.<\/p>\n

Just 12 days before the election, Buttigieg\u2019s DOT moved to implement a federal rule giving passengers compensation for every delay and cancellation of up to $1,000. Getty Images<\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201ca very big job, and it covers seven different modes,\u201d Grizzle noted, while acknowledging, \u201cThere certainly were no remarkable achievements in aviation during his [Buttigieg\u2019s] term.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shortfall in budget is something that really began in the [2010s] and has really gotten worse over time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

As of last month, an Emerson College poll of registered voters found the former transportation secretary leading the 2028 Democratic presidential primary field with 16% support,<\/a> followed by ex-Vice President Kamala Harris at 13%.<\/p>\n

Buttigieg often lashed out at the airlines, blaming the industry \u2014 not the FAA, which controls airspace nationwide \u2014 for canceling flights. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

An Echelon Insights in July showed him in second place for the potential primary, trailing Harris by 15 percentage points<\/a>, 26% to 11%, in support from Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.<\/p>\n

With the passage of President Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill earlier this month, Republicans have now approved $12.5 billion in additional spending for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to revamp the old Federal Aviation Administration systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much that prior administrations\u00a0have been especially indifferent; he\u2019s just been exceedingly attentive,\u201d Grizzle said of Duffy. \u201cI\u2019ve been on blue ribbon panels in Trump and Biden. \u2026 He will stand out for decades as one of the most engaged secretaries we\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg failed to replace outdated air traffic control systems while in office…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":80799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[1166,10314,52421,5229,9157,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,45811,80,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-80798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-air-travel","9":"tag-airlines","10":"tag-airplanes","11":"tag-america","12":"tag-dei","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-pete-buttigieg","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114891636221169194","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}