By David Shepardson and Mrinmay Dey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Billionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk on Thursday falsely accused Verizon, a rival contractor of his SpaceX Starlink system, of putting U.S. air safety at risk through a communications system that is actually operated by L3Harris.
Musk admitted that he made a mistake when he said Verizon operated the Federal Aviation Administration’s communications system.
“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,” Musk posted on social media.
Verizon, which operates the largest U.S. wireless network, rejected Musk’s initial accusation with a statement that it has only begun work on the system.
“The FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk,” Musk said in his original post.
Verizon replied: “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.”
L3Harris did not immediately comment.
On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the FAA was close to canceling a $2.4 billion 15-year contract awarded to Verizon in 2023 to overhaul a communications system, and awarding the work to Musk’s Starlink. The FAA said it has not made any decision on the contract.
This week, the FAA said it was testing three Starlink terminals at a government facility in Alaska to address concerns about reliable weather information for the aviation community in that state.
“The FAA has been considering the use of Starlink since the prior administration to increase reliability at remote sites, including in Alaska,” the FAA said this week. The agency did not immediately comment on Musk’s tweet.
President Donald Trump named Musk to head a group called DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency.
The FAA fired 350 employees last week as part of a DOGE-directed effort to shrink the government. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said none of the fired employees were air traffic controllers or critical for aviation safety.
A DOGE team of SpaceX engineers acting as special government employees visited FAA facilities last week.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)
