Elon Musk Incorrectly Accuses Verizon of Endangering U.S. Air Safety, Later Corrects Himself
Elon Musk, billionaire and presidential adviser, made a false accusation on Thursday, claiming that Verizon, a competitor of his SpaceX Starlink system, was jeopardizing U.S. air safety through its communications system. Musk initially blamed Verizon for operating the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) communication systems, but later admitted the mistake and corrected himself.
In a follow-up post on social media, Musk clarified, stating, “Correction: the ancient system that is rapidly declining in capability was made (by) L3Harris. The new system that is not yet operational is from Verizon.” His original post had warned of a “serious risk” to air safety, claiming the FAA’s system was close to catastrophic failure.
Verizon, which operates the largest wireless network in the U.S., responded to Musk’s initial accusation by stating, “To be clear, the FAA systems currently in place are run by L3Harris and not Verizon. We are at the beginning of a multi-year contract to replace antiquated, legacy systems. Our teams have been working with the FAA’s technology teams and our solution stands ready to be deployed.”
Musk’s original comments followed a report from the Washington Post on Wednesday, which indicated that the FAA might cancel a $2.4 billion contract awarded to Verizon in 2023 for overhauling its communications system. The FAA had been considering awarding the work to Musk’s Starlink system instead. However, the FAA stated that it had not made a decision about the contract.
Additionally, the FAA confirmed this week that it was testing three Starlink terminals at a government facility in Alaska to address concerns about reliable weather data for aviation in the state. The agency noted that Starlink had been under consideration since the previous administration for enhancing reliability at remote sites.
Musk, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead a group called DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), was also involved in the FAA’s recent efforts to restructure. The FAA recently laid off 350 employees as part of a DOGE-directed initiative to reduce government size. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy assured that no air traffic controllers or employees critical to aviation safety were affected.
Meanwhile, a team of SpaceX engineers, acting as special government employees, visited FAA facilities last week as part of this initiative.