As Trump’s FAA implemented nationwide ground control, Ari Emanuel places blame on the previous administration.
WME and TKO executives on Friday criticized former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for making “no progress modernizing the FAA” during his tenure, despite Donald Trump’s nomination of Sean Duffy to the post in 2024.
“No one has clean hands here,” Emanuel, whom Trump considers a close friend, wrote on
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Earlier Friday, the FAA ordered a nationwide ground shutdown due to “extraordinary circumstances” and “safety reasons,” with Duffy citing “a communications issue affecting all air route control centers.” FAA technicians are investigating the problem.”
At 5:15 p.m. PT, the FAA lifted the shutdown that grounded more than 3,500 flights, with Duffy explaining that the root cause of the crisis was a radar “instability” issue that led to the closure of domestic airspace.
The unprecedented shutdown comes as the FAA rolls out an AI tool for air traffic after saying it needs fewer air traffic controllers than previously thought, reducing the workforce by 2,000. The FAA’s previous cuts in 2025 came weeks after a mid-air collision in January at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport left all 67 people on board dead, amid a seven-year record for aviation fatalities.
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