Transportation Secretary Duffy Probes Claims of ‘DEI-Related’ Cheating in FAA Exams – One America News Network
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
2:07 PM – Friday, March 14, 2025
Following a recent claim indicating that a well-known “DEI activist” provided minority candidates pursuing air traffic controller positions with methods to cheat on the FAA entrance exam, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared he would investigate the allegations.
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Shelton Snow, a former air traffic operations supervisor and member of the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE), was recorded discussing these issues in a 2014 audio clip acquired by The Daily Mail.
“I have some valuable information that I’ve screenshot, and I’m going to send that to you via email. … I’m about 99.99 percent sure this is exactly how you should answer each question,” he was heard stating in the recording.
Moreover, another ex-member from NBCFAE, Matthew Douglas, shared with the media that he is aware of “multiple individuals who cheated and are currently in control of planes.”
“The insider information was available in 2014 to African Americans, women, and other minority candidates – while White individuals were excluded to ‘reduce competition,’” the report highlighted.
“Until 2013, the FAA prioritized job applicants who had graduated from its Collegiate Training Initiative schools and achieved high scores on an eight-hour screening test known as the Air Traffic Selection and Training exam, or AT-SAT, assessing cognitive skills. However, the Obama administration concluded that this process marginalized too many individuals from minority backgrounds,” explained Jason Riley from the Manhattan Institute, speaking in 2015.
By 2014, the FAA had shifted to evaluating potential hires through a biographical questionnaire that posed inquiries like “How many sports did you participate in during high school?” and “What has been your primary reason for failures?”
“A job questionnaire for aspiring air traffic controllers instituted by the Obama administration was crafted to fulfill undisclosed DEI target metrics,” the report added, referring to the 2014 entry examination.
After his inauguration for a second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive memorandum “reversing a Biden Administration FAA hiring policy that emphasized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over safety and efficacy.”
Social media users responded quickly to the resurfacing allegations.
“Encourage whistleblowing and provide financial rewards for anyone who helps in firing those associated with DEI. Just as police reward informants who provide tips leading to arrests,” a user on X commented.
“In 2016, an internal inquiry cleared all parties involved of any criminal wrongdoing. The recording originated during a period when Obama was advocating for hiring practices based on Biographical Assessments instead of Cognitive Tests. As of 2025, there’s an ongoing lawsuit, Brigida v. Buttigieg, alleging discriminatory hiring practices linked to DEI initiatives,” another user noted.
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