‘There Were 503 Lapses’: Kris Kobach Breaks Down Consequences Of Hiring DEI In Aviation

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach appeared Thursday on Fox Business to discuss concerns regarding the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices in the aviation industry.

An American Airlines passenger plane collided into a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evening, resulting in fatalities for everyone involved. During an appearance on “The Bottom Line,” Kobach said DEI hiring increased operational errors in the air that resulted in hundreds of incidents.

“It’s too early to know if the air traffic controllers made any mistakes,” Kobach said.

Kobach referred to what he said was an “alarming shift toward DEI hiring, diversity inclusion, race-based hiring.”

“It is something we should not see at any federal agency because it’s unconstitutional, and we should not see it ever at an agency that has the safety and lives of so many passengers in their hands,” Kobach said.

Kobach criticized these hiring protocols and said that these positions greatly impact public safety.

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“In 2023, based on internal statistics at FAA, there were 503 lapses of in-air traffic controller decisions, which was up to 65% over the previous year,” Kobach said. “And the New York Times reported also in 2023 that there were 300 near collisions in the preceding 12 months, which was double what it had been a decade earlier. So these decisions about whom you hire have consequences.”

The attorney general then praised President