"Corruption in plain sight": Musk appears set to take over $2 billion FAA contract from Verizon
Source: Salon
Published February 27, 2025 10:16AM (EST)
The Federal Aviation Administration appears likely to drop Verizon and pick Starlink, a satellite company owned by Elon Musk, to take over a contract to modernize the country's air traffic communications system, the Associated Press reported. Starlink satellite terminals and other equipment have already been installed in FAA facilities as a prelude to its potential takeover of the $2 billion contract — won by Verizon in 2023 — government employees and contractors told the news service.
Musk himself has claimed that his competitor is not up to the task, claiming on X earlier this week that "the Verizon system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk." He did not provide evidence to support the assertion. Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, is aiming to use its satellite network to replace an aging ground-based communication system, the sources said, while also displacing Verizon's plan to update that system by using fiber optic cables.
The fact that Musk is simultaneously a close advisor to President Donald Trump, holds an ill-defined but sweeping role in the federal government and owns an array of companies that profit from government contracts has raised serious concerns over just how much he's potentially helping his companies get the inside track to lucrative deals with the administration he serves. “There’s very limited transparency,” Jessica Tillipman, a contracting law expert at George Washington University told the AP. “Without that transparency, we have no idea how much non-public information he has access to or what role he’s playing in what contracts are being awarded.”
There's also concerns that a sudden shift in contract, seemingly based on personal connections to Musk, might put people's lives at risk. Former FAA officials told the AP that they were alarmed at the prospect of Starlink becoming a critical part of the aviation system without a period of testing, review and debate. "This is corruption in plain sight," Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., posted on Bluesky. "Musk is getting sweetheart deals for his companies, DOGE is helping him do it, and the President is cheering him on. This isn’t about government efficiency, but making him richer."
Read more: https://www.salon.com/2025/02/27/faa-may-cancel-verizons-2-billion-government-contract-and-give-it-to-elon-musks-company-instead/?in_brief=true
As I was drafting this OP, I got a breaking alert from the Philly Inquirer for this story -
by Alfred Lubrano
Published Feb. 27, 2025, 12:44 p.m. ET
Following recommendations from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration has fired 15 or more workers at the Federal Aviation Administration facility in Egg Harbor Township. At the same time, Musk, the world’s richest man who helped lead a Trump Cabinet meeting this week, has been trying to obtain a $2 billion contract now held by Verizon to run the FAA’s communications system for all of U.S. air traffic.
Workers at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, 10 miles west of Atlantic City, said they saw two Starlink antennas from Musk’s SpaceX company being erected on one of the center’s buildings last Saturday. On Monday, the FAA confirmed on Musk’s X social media platform that it’s testing a Starlink terminal at Hughes. Starlink is a worldwide satellite internet system.
Musk wrote on X Thursday that the FAA’s Verizon communications system to air traffic control “is breaking down very rapidly. The FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk. The Starlink terminals are being sent at NO COST to the taxpayer on an emergency basis to restore air traffic control connectivity. The situation is extremely dire.”
An FAA specialist who didn’t want to be named because they lack permission to speak said that flying is still safe. Verizon did not respond to a request for comment. Calls to Musk’s SpaceX offices were not returned. A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
This is wrong on so many levels.
is telling. 
because first and foremost, they (as a "corporation" and not the individual CEOs who come and go) have to answer to... wait for it... "their shareholders"...
And suddenly having a big lucrative contract like that "unilaterally cancelled" by an also-ran / fly-by-nighter like Muskrat, won't go over very well.
Verizon and its pre-Bell breakup entities, has/have had contracts with the government for forever. GSA does those 10-year telecom contracts.
I know before I retired and the feds made me get a blackberry (ended up with 2 over a bunch of years as they upgraded), I barely had a choice of provider - Verizon or I *think* AT&T. My own personal cell was on Sprint at the time, but that was not an option. I ended up on Verizon. I still have Verizon for a landline though (yes those still exist ).
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