The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allegedly been feeding code words to members of the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE) so their resumes will be considered before anyone who is not black.

Many would call that “cheating” in the name of “diversity.”

NBCFAE’s Vice President Shelton Snow told members that the FAA will open bid for employees starting on February 10th. They will reportedly scan resumes and then a computer will group them by keywords. Those words will flag the resumes for potential hires, allowing them to skip to the front of the line ahead of thousands of others.

This is evidently part of a scandal and a lawsuit that has been ongoing for some time.

This is one of the craziest things I’ve ever read.

First, the FAA gave secret code words to students in the Black Caucus of Federal Aviation Employees to put in their resume that would skip them to the front of the line.

In another instance of the signals to go to the front of… pic.twitter.com/VSc32hmpj3

— Austen (@Austen) January 29, 2024

a taste of things to come pic.twitter.com/8BhtGowRJD

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) January 29, 2024

“A scandal at the FAA has been moving on a slow-burn through the courts for a decade, culminating in the class-action lawsuit currently known as Brigida v. @SecretaryPete, brought by a class who spent years and thousands of dollars in coursework to become air traffic controllers, only to be dismissed by a pass-fail biographical questionnaire with a >90% fail rate, implemented without warning after many of them had already taken, and passed, a skill assessment. The questionnaire awarded points for factors like ‘lowest grade in high school is science,’ something explicitly admitted by the FAA in a motion to deny class certification,” TracingWoodgrains wrote on X.

A scandal at the FAA has been moving on a slow-burn through the courts for a decade, culminating in the class-action lawsuit currently known as Brigida v. @SecretaryPete, brought by a class who spent years and thousands of dollars in coursework to become air traffic controllers,… pic.twitter.com/c2LL2d3kJK

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) January 29, 2024

The list of keywords was allegedly obtained from an HR member at the FAA. Snow told members to “keep a lid on this attachment” and ” focus on YOUR resume.”

“Concurrent to all of this, NBCFAE members were hard at work. In particular, one Shelton Snow, an FAA employee and then-president of the NBCFAE’s Washington Suburban chapter, provided NBCFAE members with ‘buzz words’ in January 2014 that would automatically push their resumes to the tops of HR files. A 2013 NBCFAE meeting advised members to ‘please include [on resumes] if you are a NBCFAE Member. […] Can you see the strategy’, emphasizing they were ‘only concerned’ with the employment of ‘African-Americans, women … and other minorities,'” TracingWoodgrains added.

“After the 2014 biographical questionnaire was released, Snow took it a step further. As Fox Business reported (related in Rojas v. FAA), he sent voice-mail messages to NBCFAE applicants, advising them on the specific answers they needed to enter into the Biographical Assessment to avoid failing, stating that he was ‘about 99 point 99 percent sure that it is exactly how you need to answer each question,'” he asserted on X.

The questions asked of applicants were revealing.

Let’s play the “Get hired as an Air Traffic Controller” game. 90% of you will fail. Are you ready?

The first question is an easy one if you’ve been paying attention: pic.twitter.com/LKSEMpuRoq

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) January 30, 2024

Did you say “history” and “a public notice or media advertisement”? Full points! I hope you didn’t say you were referred by a friend; that’ll set you back. Next up: Sports and grades. Think carefully—you only get one shot. pic.twitter.com/xoPy2Xnz7W

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) January 30, 2024

Acceptable answers include: “Fewer than 10 hours” and “Didn’t go to college” for the first; “1 to 2” and “5 to 6” for the second. Next, we’ll look at your employment history and your group behavior. pic.twitter.com/em6HB9tHzn

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) January 30, 2024

Most answers are fine for criticism, but sorry if you answered “Somewhat more than most” or “somewhat less than most.” That indecisiveness will cost you! And you’ve gotta hit that sweet spot for training: 6 months to 2 years, and not a day more or less. pic.twitter.com/c2atFExjwK

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) January 30, 2024

That should be enough for a start. Only 69 more questions to go. You’ve got this!

To take the full questionnaire yourself, examine exhibits 139-25 and 139-26 here, and perhaps you too can be an ATC one day. https://t.co/KCFRZ7ohZ2

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) January 30, 2024

TracingWoodgrains is a law student and donated to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. He claims this is a black eye for the FAA and the Department of Transportation (DOT), which it is, and that it isn’t a partisan issue.

Meanwhile, the FAA is also recruiting individuals who have a “severe intellectual disability” and/or “psychiatric disability” for employment in a further push for diversity and inclusion.

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