Duffy: Pilots should lose licenses if they disregard air traffic controllers

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy argued pilots should lose their licenses if they disregard air traffic controllers, a striking statement as his department deals with a string of aviation accidents and near-misses.

Duffy appeared Thursday on NBC's Nightly News, during which host Tom Costello asked if there was anything that connected the plane incidents.

“They’re all very unique,” he admitted, later adding, “There’s some pilot error at play in each of these incidents.”

Duffy also called for people responsible to face consequences for disregarding air traffic controllers. It comes as a private plane at Chicago’s Midway International Airport drove into the runway, nearly being hit by a landing Southwest Airlines flight, after it had been told to wait.

“A consequence-free space where you make errors, serious errors, and you don’t pay any kind of price for it, something’s wrong with that,” Duffy told the outlet. “And maybe this is the way we get pilots to start paying attention again and following the direction of air traffic controllers.”

Duffy has faced scrutiny over the recent incidents, particularly as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) looks to slash the federal budget and has made cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration.

On Thursday, he announced there were plans to implement a “supercharge” in air traffic controller staff as there continue to be shortages. He would be increasing salaries and reducing the time required for the hiring process to accelerate hiring speed.

Elon Musk, the leader of DOGE, also encouraged retired air traffic controllers to return to work and help the sector.

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