DEI THREATENS HARRY REID AIRPORT OPS?

Jan 31, 2025

Let’s be clear, DEI is nothing more than affirmative action rebranded. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in a case against Harvard University, a case in which our NV AG Aaron Ford supported discrimination against Asian American students in favor of less qualified Black applicants, Dems changed the name to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

Aviation has been one of the hardest hit by DEI policies in the last 4 years. We see on social media the celebration of women and minorities in the cockpit. Delta announced a couple of years ago they were focusing on DEI hiring for pilots. And Biden’s FAA focused on hiring midgets and mentally ill as air traffic controllers while rejecting over a thousand white male applicants, according to recent reports.

What about our very own Las Vegas Harry Reid Airport run by Dems? DEI is all over the County Airport’s website and leadership goals. The Clark County Department of Aviation’s website states they give preferential treatment to people from historically disadvantaged groups for vendors. Labelled Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) Program, the attached PDF lays out actual quotas that cap the “Race-Neutral ACDBE Goal” (white) at 1.7% from 2023 to 2026. The document goes on to include DEI for concessions for airport lounges, carts, foreign currency exchange, vending services, and even for car rentals.

“Non-car rental ACDBE goals totaling 15.5% as set forth in this document were set as race conscious goals prior to the solicitation for each contract”

Another program supported by Harry Reid Airport and  FAA called Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program has contracting racial and non-racial (white) quotas stated in writing.

Harry Reid International Airport – 15.0% (6.4% Race-Neutral/ 8.6%Race-Conscious)
Henderson Executive Airport – 17.9% (6.4% Race-Neutral/ 11.5% Race-Conscious)
North Las Vegas Airport – 20.1% (6.4% Race-Neutral/ 13.7% Race-Conscious)
Overton – Perkins Field – 19.8% (6.4% Race-Neutral/ 13.4% Race-Conscious)
Jean Sport Aviation Center – 19.8% (6.4% Race-Neutral/ 13.4% Race-Conscious)

The airport has several job openings for air Traffic Controllers listed on Indeed. And it’s clear that white males need not apply. And if they happen to get hired, they can expect their upward mobility will be very limited due to their gender and race, unless, of course, they identify as a transgender.

BTW, all this DEI has failed to make Harry Reid run better.  Our airport was just rated as the worst-run major airport in the nation, with the worst departure delays in the FAA system. Worse than Chicago O’Hare Airport, worse than Detroit, and even worse than Newark Airport. Harry Reid International Airport had nearly 30,000 flights with 15-minute delays or longer.

Rosemary Vassiliadisa, Director of the Clark County Dept. of Aviation, blamed the delays on our weather and too many private jets for the 30,000+ flight delays in a public statement.

If that’s not bad enough, Harry Reid Airport also has one of the worst TSA security line wait times in the country.

And this month, Harry Reid was rated as one of the worst airports for lost luggage. Harry Reid International Airport had the 12th most complaints for lost or mishandled baggage among 60 U.S. airports between 2015 and 2023, a new report says.

But all that is about to change under President Trump as he seeks to purge DEI from the FAA and the rest of the government.