Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Virginia Beach distributor to close, laying off 104 workers

Atlantic Dominion Distributors, the -based subsidiary of a 150-year-old parent company, is set to close in September. As a result, 104 people will be out of work, according to the state.

According to a news release from , which is owned by Old Dominion Tobacco Co., it has sold its inventory assets to , based in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

Atlantic Dominion informed the state of the closing of its wholesale and vending distribution operations in Virginia Beach and Williamsburg in a July 30 letter to the Virginia Network’s Rapid Response program. According to the Virginia Works Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) page, the will occur by Sept. 26.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the acquisition, which includes Atlantic Dominion’s operations in Virginia Beach and Hope Mills, North Carolina, is expected to close at the end of August, according to the companies’ announcement.

In Atlantic Dominion’s letter to the state, 98 employees of the Virginia Beach wholesale and vending divisions will be laid off, as well as six employees at three Williamsburg cigarette outlets. Eleven other employees in North Carolina also will be laid off.

Southco Distributing said Monday that the facility in Virginia Beach will not remain open, but employees will be offered a job if they are willing to relocate, and sales positions will be offered where applicable.

Old Dominion Tobacco Co., Atlantic Dominion’s parent company, will continue to run its other businesses, including Hoffman Beverage, which distributes Anheuser-Busch products and other beverages; S&K Sales, a distributor to military commissaries and exchanges worldwide; and a real estate investment division.

Old Dominion Tobacco was established in 1875 as a cigar maker in Norfolk by founder Leroy Davis, whose descendant, Robin Davis Ray, is president of Atlantic Dominion Distributors. According to its website, Atlantic Dominion provides more than 10,000 food, drink and tobacco products to convenience stores and grocers, as well as vending machines and other outlets in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

 

Wall Street falls the most since May after employers slash hiring and tariffs roll out

SUMMARY:

  • S&P 500 drops 1.6%; Nasdaq down 2.2%; Dow slips 1.2% in worst day for Wall Street since May
  • U.S. added just 73,000 in July; May and June job gains revised down by 258,000
  • Treasury yields tumble as investors bet on Fed rate cut in September

The stock market had its worst day since May after the government reported a sharp slowdown in hiring and imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from a number of U.S. trading partners. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Friday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2%. The Nasdaq composite lost 2.2%. The surprisingly weak hiring numbers led investors to step up their expectations for an interest rate cut in September and sent Treasury yields sharply lower in the bond market. The new set of tariffs are set to go into effect Aug. 7.

Worries on Wall Street about a weakening were heavily reinforced by the latest report on job growth in the U.S. Employers added just 73,000 jobs in July. That is sharply lower than economists expected. The Department also reported that revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls.

Markets are also reacting to the latest tariff news. President Donald Trump announced tariff rates on dozens of countries and pushed back the scheduled effective date to Aug. 7, adding more uncertainty to the global trade picture.

The surprisingly weak hiring numbers led investors to step up their expectations for an interest rate cut in September. The market’s odds of a quarter-point cut by the rose to around 85% from just under 40% a day earlier, according to data from CME FedWatch.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.22% from 4.39% just before the hiring report was released. That’s a big move for the bond market. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed actions, plunged to 3.71% from 3.94% just prior to the report’s release.

The Fed has held rates steady since December. A cut in rates would give the job market and overall economy a boost, but it could also risk fueling , which is hovering stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target.

An update on Thursday for the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation showed that prices ticked higher in June, rising to 2.6% from 2.4% in May. The Fed has remained cautious about cutting interest rates because of worries that tariffs will add more fuel to inflation and weigh down economic growth.

The central bank, though, also counts “maximum employment” as one of its two mandates along with keeping prices stable. Issues with either of those goals could prompt a shift in policy.

The Fed held rates steady again at its most recent meeting this week. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been pressured by Trump to cut the benchmark rate, though that decision isn’t his to make alone, but belongs to the 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee.

“What had looked like a Teflon showed some scratches this morning, as tariffs continue to work their way through the economy,” said Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “A Fed that still appeared hesitant to lower rates may see a clearer path to a September cut, especially if data over the next month confirms the trend.”

Businesses, investors and the Fed are all operating under a cloud of uncertainty from Trump’s tariff policy. The latest moves give 66 countries, the European Union, Taiwan and the Falkland Islands another seven days, instead of taking effect on Friday, as Trump stated earlier.

Companies have been warning investors that the policy, with some tariffs already in effect while others change or get extended, has made it difficult to make forecasts. Walmart, Procter & Gamble and many others have warned about import taxes raising costs, eating into profits and raising prices for consumers.

Internet retail giant Amazon fell 8.2%, despite reporting encouraging profit and sales for its most recent quarter. Technology behemoth Apple fell 1.7% after also beating Wall Street’s profit and revenue forecasts. Both companies face tougher operating conditions because of tariffs, with Apple forecasting a $1.1 billion hit from the fees in the current quarter.

Exxon Mobil fell 1.9% after reporting that profit dropped to the lowest level in four years and sales fell as oil prices slumped as OPEC+ ramped up production.

Stocks fell across the world. Germany’s DAX fell 2.7% and France’s CAC 40 fell 2.9%. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.9%

Trump calls on the Federal Reserve board to take full control of the central bank from Powell

SUMMARY:

  • Trump demands Fed board override for not cutting interest rates.
  • Trump-nominated Waller and Bowman dissent, favoring cuts.
  • Supreme Court ruling limits Trump’s ability to remove Powell over policy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — on Friday called for the ‘s board of governors to usurp the power of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, criticizing the head of the U.S. central bank for not cutting short-term interest rates.

Posting on his platform, Trump called Powell “stubborn.” The Fed chair has been subjected to vicious verbal attacks by the president over several months.

The Fed has the responsibility of stabilizing prices and maximizing employment. Powell has held its benchmark rate for overnight loans constant this year, saying that Fed officials needed to see what impact Trump’s massive tariffs had on .

If Powell doesn’t “substantially” lower rates, Trump posted, “THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!”

Two of the seven Fed governors, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, issued statements Friday saying they see the tariffs as having a one-time impact on prices and the job market as most likely softening. As a result, the two dissented at the Fed meeting on Wednesday and pushed for slight relative to what Trump was seeking.

Even though Trump, who nominated Waller and Bowman, has claimed the U.S. is booming, he welcomed their arguments and what he called their strong dissents.

Friday’s jobs report showed a rapidly decelerating economy, as just 73,000 jobs were added in July and downward revisions brought down the June and May totals to 14,000 and 19,000, respectively.

Trump sees the rate cuts as leading to stronger growth and lower debt servicing costs for the and homebuyers. The president argues there is virtually no inflation, even though the Fed’s preferred measure is running at an annual rate of 2.6%, slightly higher than the Fed’s 2% target.

Trump has called for slashing the Fed’s benchmark rate by 3 percentage points, bringing it down dramatically from its current average of 4.33%. The risk is that a rate cut that large could cause more money to come into the economy than can be absorbed, possibly causing inflation to accelerate.

The Supreme Court suggested in a May ruling that Trump could not remove Powell for policy disagreements. This led the White House to investigate whether the Fed chair could be fired for cause because of the cost overruns in the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation projects.

Powell’s term as chair ends in May 2026, at which point Trump can put his Senate-confirmed pick in the seat.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that 14,000 jobs were created in June and 19,000 in May, not 19,000 in June and 14,000 in May.

US employers slash hiring as Trump advances a punishing trade agenda

SUMMARY:

  • U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, below forecasts.
  • May and June payrolls were revised downward by 258,000 jobs.
  • Unemployment rose to 4.2% as more Americans left the force.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hiring is slowing sharply as ‘s erratic and radical trade policies paralyze businesses and raise doubts about the outlook for the world’s largest economy.

U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday, well short of the 115,000 expected.

Worse, revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls. And the ticked higher to 4.2% as Americans dropped out of the labor force and the ranks of the unemployed rose by 221,000.

“A notable deterioration in U.S. conditions appears to be underway,” said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets. ”We have been forecasting this since the tariff and trade war erupted this spring and more restrictive immigration restrictions were put in place. Overall, this report highlights the risk of a harder landing for the labor market.”

Economists have been warning that the rift with every U.S. trading partner will begin to appear this summer and the Friday appeared to sound the bell.

“We’re finally in the eye of the hurricane,” said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor. “After months of warning signs, the July jobs report confirms that the slowdown isn’t just approaching—it’s here.”

U.S. markets recoiled at the jobs report and the Dow tumbled more than 600 points Friday.

But President Donald Trump responded to the weak report by calling for the firing of Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Labor Department’s , which compiles the jobs numbers. “I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on Truth Social. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.”

Revelations in the new data raise questions about the health of the job market and the economy as Trump pushes forward an unorthodox overhaul of American trade policy.

Trump has discarded decades of U.S. efforts to lower trade barriers globally, instead, imposing hefty import taxes — tariffs — on products from almost every country on earth. Trump believes the levies will bring manufacturing back to America and raise money to pay for the massive tax cuts he signed into law July 4.

Mainstream economists warned that the cost of the tariffs will be passed along to Americans, both businesses and households.

That has begun.

Walmart, Procter & Gamble, Ford, Best Buy, Adidas, Nike, Mattel, Shein, Temu, Stanley Black & Decker, have all hiked prices due to U.S. tariffs. Economists at Goldman Sachs estimate that overseas exporters have absorbed just one-fifth of the rising costs from tariffs, while Americans and U.S. businesses have picked up the lion’s share of the tab.

Trump has sowed uncertainty in the erratic way he’s rolled the tariffs out — announcing, then suspending them, then coming up with new ones. Overnight, Trump signed an that set new tariffs on a wide swath of U.S. trading partners to that go into effect on Aug. 7, and that comes after a flurry of unexpected tariff-related actions this week.

“There was a clear, significant, immediate, tariff effect on the labor market and employment growth essentially stalled, as we were dealing with so much uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and for tariffs,” said Blerina Uruci, chief U.S. economist for the brokerage T. Rowe Price.

Still, Uruci said the data suggests we could be past the worst, as hiring actually did pick up a bit in July from May and June’s depressed levels.

“I’m not overly pessimistic on the U.S. economy based on this morning’s data,” she said, though she does think that hiring will remain muted in the coming months as the number of available workers remains limited due to reduced immigration and an aging population.

“Because of immigration policy, labor supply growth has nearly ground to a halt,” said Guy Berger, senior fellow at the Burning Glass Institute, which studies employment trends. “So we’re going to have very weak employment growth. And we look like southern Europe or Japan.”

Still, with fewer workers available, the economy doesn’t need to generate many jobs to soak up the unemployed. That could keep the unemployment rate from climbing much, Berger added.

Trump has sold the tariffs hikes as a way to boost American manufacturing, but factories cut 11,000 jobs last month after shedding 15,000 in June and 11,000 in May. The , where employment has been targeted by the , lost 12,000 jobs. Jobs in administration and support fell by nearly 20,000.

Healthcare companies added 55,400 jobs last month – accounting for 76% of the jobs added in July and offering another sign that recent job gains have been narrowly concentrated.

The department originally reported that state and local governments had added 64,000 education jobs in June. The revisions Friday slashed those jobs to less than 10,000.

Those revisions also revealed that the U.S. economy has generated an average of just 85,000 jobs a month this year, barely half last year’s average of 168,000 and well below an average 400,000 from 2021-2023 as the economy rebounded from COVID-19 lockups.

The weak jobs data makes it more likely that Trump will get one thing that he most fervently desires: A cut in short-term interest rates by the Federal Reserve, which often — though not always — can lead to lower rates for mortgages, car loans, and credit cards.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have repeatedly pointed to a healthy job market as a reason that they could take time to evaluate how Trump’s tariffs were affecting and the broader economy. Now that assessment has been undercut and will put more pressure on the Fed to reduce borrowing costs.

Wall Street investors sharply raised their expectations for a rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting in September after the report was released.

On Wednesday, the Fed left its key rate unchanged for fifth consecutive meeting and Powell signaled little urgency to reduce rates anytime soon. He said the “labor market is solid” with “historically low unemployment.” But he also acknowledged there is a “downside risk” to employment stemming from the slow pace of hiring that was evident even before Friday’s weaker numbers.

The current situation is a sharp reversal from the hiring boom of just three years ago when desperate employers were handing out signing bonuses and introducing perks such as Fridays off, fertility benefits and even pet insurance to recruit and keep workers.

The rate of people quitting their jobs — a sign they’re confident they can land something better — has fallen from the record heights of 2021 and 2022 and is now weaker than before the pandemic.

Drees Homes, a homebuilder based outside Cincinnati in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, has hired about 50 people over the past year, bringing its workforce to around 950. Pamela Rader, Drees’ vice president for human resources, it’s “gotten a little bit easier” to find workers.

A couple of years ago, Rader said jobseekers were focused on getting more pay. Now, she said, they emphasize stable employment, a better work-life balance, and prospects for advancement.

Federal Reserve Governor Kugler steps down, giving Trump slot to fill

WASHINGTON (AP) — governor Adriana Kugler announced that she will step down next Friday, opening up a spot on the central bank’s powerful board that will be able to fill.

Kugler, who did not participate in the Fed’s policy meeting earlier this week, would have completed her term in January. Instead, she will retire Aug. 8. She did not provide a reason for stepping down in her resignation letter.

Trump has stepped up his criticism of the Fed since chair said Wednesday that the central bank would keep its short-term interest rate unchanged. Powell also said the Fed could take months to evaluate the impact of tariffs on the before deciding to cut rates, as Trump has demanded.

Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report

SUMMARY:

  • Trump fired chief Erika McEntarfer after weak July data.
  • Revisions showed May and June job growth far lower than reported.
  • Deputy Commissioner named acting director

WASHINGTON (AP) — on Friday removed the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported.

Trump, in a post on his social media platform, alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the , who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence for the charge.

“I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on . “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.”

After his post, Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director.

“I support the President’s decision to replace Biden’s Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

Friday’s jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated.

McEntarfer was nominated by Biden in 2023 and became the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in January 2024. Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but since they are can be fired. The commissioner is the only political appointee of the agency, which has hundreds of career civil servants.

Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just 19,000 from 125,000, and for June they were cut to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%.

“No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” Trump wrote. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”

The monthly employment report is one of the most closely-watched pieces of government economic data and can cause sharp swings in financial markets. The disappointing figure sent U.S. market indexes about 1.5% lower Friday.

While the jobs numbers are often the subject of political spin, economists and Wall Street investors — with millions of dollars at stake — have always accepted U.S. government economic data as free from political manipulation.

Embattled GMU president survives board meeting with pay raise

Summary

Despite being anticipated by some as a showdown between ‘s board and its embattled president, a Friday meeting ended with GMU President Gregory Washington landing a pay raise instead of being ousted.

Washington and the university he’s led since 2020 have been under increasing pressure from the Trump administration, which has launched four federal investigations into George Mason since July 1. Trump administration officials have criticized Washington for supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, and have alleged he emphasized race- and sex-based hiring and promotions, which they say disadvantaged white and male faculty candidates and employees.

In a unanimous vote with no public discussion among the board members, the university’s board of visitors approved a 1.5% base salary raise for Washington. Rector Charles “Cully” Stimson said that he and vice rector Michael J. Meese would meet with the university’s president to “provide him feedback from the discussion in closed session.”

Earlier in the meeting, Washington presented an overview of highlights during his five-year tenure leading George Mason, including a doubling of the university’s state funding from $190 million to $382 million and a boost of more than 30 places in national university rankings by U.S. News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal.

Members of the conservative-leaning Mason Board of Visitors, which has firing power over the president, have been publicly critical of Washington regarding diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives put in place at GMU since he took office in July 2020, just as the nation was undergoing a racial justice reckoning spurred by the murder of George Floyd.

Washington has defended his actions in the early days of his tenure at George Mason, saying Friday that new programs and initiatives helped calm racial strife after a large protest took place on George Mason’s grounds in the summer of 2020.

The probes opened by the U.S. Justice and Education departments cite some of the university’s changes in 2020 as proof that Washington has emphasized race and gender as priorities in hiring and promotions. The DOE also filed an allegation that George Mason has not protected its Jewish students and staffers from antisemitic attacks on campus. Washington has been called to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in Congress on matters as well.

Faculty members, including the university’s faculty senate and the American Association of University Professors chapter at Mason, have been vocal in their support for Washington, whom they say has been politically targeted by the Trump administration and by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who appointed all 12 members of Mason’s current board.

Some of Washington’s supporters attended the board meeting’s public segments Friday and silently held small signs voicing their moral support, after the AAUP-Mason chapter rallied the university community to “pack the BOV and protect our president.”

The board entered closed session for about two hours to discuss Washington’s job performance and legal counsel “relating to probable litigation,” according to the agenda.

A Circuit judge blocked George Mason, along with the University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute, from seating eight of Youngkin’s board appointees who were rejected in June by a state Senate committee.

Youngkin and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares encouraged the three university boards to recognize the disputed members in letters and comments, but on Tuesday, Judge Jonathan Frieden ruled in favor of nine state senators in a civil lawsuit against the three rectors. Miyares’ office said it plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Hook Law New Hire

Allison Emborski has rejoined Hook Law to lead its growing fiduciary litigation practice in response to rising client demand. With experience from an AmLaw 100 firm, she brings extensive estate and trust litigation expertise. Emborski’s practice will focus on contested wills, fiduciary misconduct, guardianship, and complex estate disputes.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-strayer/

Announce your new employees, promotions, board positions, community notes and leaders in your organization to our influential audience. The information in the Professional Announcements section is provided by the submitter.

Click here to make a Professional Announcement submission and to find out more.

Click here to see more Professional Announcements

Report: DOGE responsible for nearly 290k job cuts


SUMMARY:

  • ‘s and spending cuts are driving a sharp rise in U.S. job losses
  • Experts warn of economic ripple effects and a lack of matching for displaced workers
  • AI and automation are accelerating job cuts, especially in the tech sector.

A new report shows that federal layoffs initiated by the Trump administration’s remain the biggest culprit for job cut announcements so far this year, with experts saying the losses are disproportionately impacting Virginia.

In its July Challenger Report released Thursday, executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that U.S.-based employers have announced 806,383 job cuts so far this year — more than all layoff announcements for 2024 and the highest year-to-date since 2020, when 1.84 million job cuts were announced.

This total is up 75% from the 460,530 job cuts announced through the first seven months of 2024 and is 6% higher than the 2024 full-year total of 761,358.

Employers announced 62,075 job cuts in July, up 29% from June’s 47,999 and up 140% from 25,885 announced in July 2024.

Government entities announced 3,666 job cuts in July, a slight decrease from 3,801 cuts announced in June.

DOGE: Leading U.S. job cuts

DOGE was cited in 289,679 planned layoffs so far this year, according to the report, and is the leading cause of job cuts thus far in 2025. That includes direct reductions to the federal workforce and its contractors. Furthermore, the report stated that an additional 13,056 cuts have been attributed to the downstream effects of federal layoffs and spending cuts, including loss of funding to private nonprofits and affiliated organizations. The report stated that market and economic conditions were the next most cited reason for workforce reductions, accounting for 171,083 cuts for the year to date.

Demographer Hamilton Lombard with the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service said it’s difficult to assess how many of the federal layoffs are specific to Virginia. However, citing data from the 2023 Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, a Weldon Cooper Center study in April reported that Virginia had 321,516 federal employees going into 2025, more than nearly every other state, except for Maryland.

During a call with the media on Friday, said he’s held numerous recent town halls in Republican-led districts in Virginia where, he said, 70-80% of the people in attendance either had a family member or knew someone affected by federal layoffs.

“The fact is, the sloppiness of this operation and firing people, bringing them back, restarting — all that has cost,” Warner said. “If anybody had ever run a business before … that kind of uncertainty, that kind of jerking around, that kind of chaos, costs money.”

A “smart DOGE would have made sense,” said Warner, adding that if Democrats regain control of the , he’s committed to rebuilding essential programs and services, albeit through a new model.

Terry L. Clower, Chair and professor of public policy in the Schar School of Policy and Government at , pointed to Bureau of Statistics data that show Virginia lost 5,700 more federal jobs in June than in the same month last year.

Clower noted that the data does not yet reflect job losses that have been put on temporary hold due to legal challenges regarding whether the Trump administration can make broad-based job cuts. It’s also unclear, he said, how many people took voluntary buyouts offered by the Trump administration, which won’t be in effect until September.

The loss of federal jobs, Clower added, will also lead to a decline in regional household spending and indirect jobs that support federal workers. He said there are not enough jobs that match up in terms of occupations and skill sets to provide employment opportunities for all of the displaced federal workers, if the order of magnitude of the layoffs is what the administration said it would be.

Virginia needs to invest in other type of industries, particularly emerging industries and new opportunities, Clower said, in order to shore up the loss in economic activity that’s generated by the federal government in the Northern Virginia region.

Tariffs and AI

Meanwhile, retail announced 80,487 job cuts through July, representing a 249% increase from the 23,077 cuts announced during the same period last year. The Challenger Report cited tariffs, inflation, declines in consumer spending and economic uncertainty causing layoffs and store closures.

Nonprofits are also facing challenges from federal funding reductions and economic uncertainty, with these organizations announcing 17,826 job cuts so far in 2025, a 413% increase from the 3,477 announced through July last year.

Closings of stores, units, or plants have led to 120,226 layoffs so far this year, while restructuring efforts have resulted in 66,879 job cuts. Bankruptcies accounted for another 35,641 layoffs.

Technology led the private sector in nationwide job cuts, with 89,251 in 2025, a 36% increase from the 65,863 cuts tracked through July 2024. The tech industry is being reshaped by the advancement of artificial intelligence and ongoing uncertainty surrounding work visas, which have contributed to workforce reductions.

The report specifically said that technological updates, including the implementation of automation and AI, have resulted in 20,219 job cuts this year.

Speaking about AI’s impact on the and jobs, Warner said that while more businesses are adopting AI into their operations, which will increase productivity, “what I’m concerned about [is] … all those starter jobs that are … coming out of college, whether it’s in the government … or in the financial sector as an analyst, a lot of those jobs are never going to come back, because AI can do it quicker, faster, in a frankly more efficient way.”

 

Worries over military chopper routes, FAA staffing levels emerge as factors in midair crash inquiry

  

SUMMARY:  

  • NTSB probes January crash over Potomac that killed 67 people 
  • Focus on Army helicopter use of crowded D.C. airspace 
  • Air traffic control staffing and visual separation under review 
  • Nation’s deadliest air crash since 2001 raises systemic concerns 

 

Long-standing concerns about military helicopters flying in crowded airspace and worries over short staffing among federal aviation workers emerged Thursday as key factors in investigators’ inquiry into the fatal midair crash between an Army helicopter and a commercial airliner earlier this year.

During the second of three days of witness testimony and public inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board into the January midair crash over the Potomac River, the board focused on air traffic control.

The NTSB heard Thursday that it was common for pilots to ask to use visual separation — basically relying on their eyesight — just as the Army Black Hawk’s pilot agreed to do the night of the crash. FAA officials also said controllers relied heavily on pilots using visual separation as a way to manage the complex airspace with so many helicopters flying around Washington D.C.

But Rick Dressler, an official with medevac operator Metro Aviation, told the board it is difficult to identify other aircraft in the night sky around Ronald Reagan National Airport, especially if an onboard locator system was switched off, as Army choppers routinely did.

Dressler said that he and other civilian helicopter pilots in the area have long been concerned about the Army and Air Force helicopters flying around Reagan airport.

“I don’t like saying this. I’ll say it again on the record,” Dressler, a former Army aviator and retired Air Force officer, said. “I’m speaking for my group there. We we are all very uncomfortable when those two units are operating.”

Clark Allen, an FAA training manager in the Washington area who worked in the tower at Reagan National Airport, said it was common for visual separation to be used daily between helicopter pilots and commercial traffic.

The Department of Defense referred questions about Thursday’s testimony to the Army, who did not immediately respond.

The Air Force also did not immediately respond to questions about Dressler’s remarks.

The American Airlines jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.

The collision was the nation’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001 and was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year that have alarmed officials and the traveling public, despite statistics that still show flying remains the safest form of transportation.

It’s too early for the board to identify what exactly caused the crash. The board’s final report won’t be released until sometime next year.

Staffing worries

James Jarvis helped evaluate the operations at Reagan airport for several years. He said that at one point when his group visited the airport for an evaluation in 2022, the airport was so far out of compliance on more than 33 different items that the audit was stopped so Jarvis and the other experts could help the facility identify where to improve.

Jarvis said that he was concerned about staffing levels at the airport dating back to 2016 or 2017 — particularly the lack of support staff. That meant that the air traffic control staff couldn’t focus on what they needed to because they had to take care of things that support staff would normally handle and might not have had the time needed to manage training. And he said controller staffing levels were always on the low side.

“That was a concern of mine,” said Jarvis who works for FAA contractor Leidos. “At one point I was told to quit bringing it up.”

Final moments on Black Hawk

Communications from on board the helicopter moments before the collision were released as part of the board’s investigation.

The Black Hawk’s crew had been communicating with the airport’s control tower, although the helicopter pilots did not fully hear the controller’s instructions.

The Black Hawk pilots told the tower twice in the minutes before the crash that they had the American Airlines passenger plane in sight and would maintain proper separation. But when the controller instructed the pilots to “pass behind” the jet, the crew didn’t hear that instruction because the Black Hawk’s microphone key was pressed at that moment.

Just before the collision an instructor pilot aboard the helicopter asked the pilot at the controls to come left. But it wasn’t clear if the pilot had time to maneuver the helicopter before the crash.

“Kinda come left for me ma’am,” the instructor said.

The pilot responded: “Sure.”

‘Be fully transparent’

At several points throughout the hearing NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has reminded FAA and Army witnesses that they are covered by whistleblower protections and shouldn’t be disciplined for anything they say.

But she remained concerned about whether witnesses are speaking freely because just before lunch Thursday she ordered the seating arrangements to be changed after noticing a supervisor elbow an FAA employee midsentence during testimony, prompting that person to stop speaking.

“We want people to be fully transparent and feel safe in providing us answers. So we’re going to switch the panelists. I’m not going to put up with that,” Homendy said.

‘Fix it’

On the first day of hearings Wednesday, investigators highlighted the warnings about helicopter traffic that the Federal Aviation Administration received years before the tragedy over the Potomac River.

Homendy urged the FAA to “Fix it. Do better” at the end of a fiery exchange when she highlighted the warnings the agency ignored years earlier. She also suggested the Army adopt a formal policy making it clear that helicopter pilots should never fly under landing planes because pilots told investigators they were doing that routinely.

“Every sign was there that there was a safety risk and the tower was telling you that,” Homendy said.

But there were 21 bureaucratic steps the tower had to follow to get a change made and after the accident the FAA transferred managers out of the tower instead of acknowledging that they had been warned.

“What you did is you transferred people out instead of taking ownership over the fact that everybody in FAA in the tower was saying there was a problem,” Homendy said. “But you guys are pointing out, ‘Welp, our bureaucratic process. Somebody should have brought it up at some other symposium.’ Are you kidding me? 67 people are dead. How do you explain that?”

Concern about distances between planes and helicopters

John Cox, an aviation safety expert and retired airline pilot, said the hearings are headed in the right direction to determine what happened and to prevent similar accidents.

His main concerns focus on the Black Hawk helicopter, including why it was above the 200-feet (61 meters) elevation limit for that particular helicopter route. Another question is why the Black Hawk wasn’t closer to the east bank of the Potomac River, where it would have been further away from landing airplanes.

“I’ve passed helicopters underneath me over the east bank of the Potomac a lot of times,” said Cox, who flew commercial airliners for 25 years. “And there’s always been plenty of separation. It’s not a lot because the space is so constrained. But you’re dealing with professional pilots and it’s not been a problem.”

Investigators said Wednesday the flight data recorder showed the helicopter was actually 80 feet to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) higher than the barometric altimeter the pilots relied upon showed they were flying.