Elon Musk is currently facing accusations of a conflict of interest following rumors that Starlink is set to take over an already-agreed $2,400,000,000 air traffic control contract with Verizon.
While previous political conflicts, such as the tariffs placed on Canada earlier this year, have left Elon Musk and his companies in jeopardy, recent rumors suggest that SpaceX subsidiary Starlink could benefit significantly following the cancellation of an air traffic control contract.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been a particular target for Musk and US President Donald Trump following his return to office, with a focus on 'diversity, equality, and inclusion' (DEI) when it comes to cuts.
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This falls concurrently with an increase in high profile plane-related accidents across the United States, which include an American Airlines collision with a military helicopter in Washington D.C., and a Delta plane crash that left the flight upside down.
Yesterday Musk posted a request on X for air traffic controllers, declaring: "There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so."
At the same time, reports from the Washington Post indicate that the FAA are reportedly looking to cancel a pre-agreed $2.4 billion contract with Verizon for the air traffic control communication system, handing it over instead to Elon Musk's SpaceX subsidiary Starlink.
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This has raised major questions over Musk's conflict of interest, as reported by the Verge, when related to his government position - something he has avoided dealing with from an ethical standpoint due to the fact he's not technically a government employee.
Despite pioneering major cuts across all areas of federal spending, Musk has contrastingly benefitted from $38 billion in government contracts and aid, as per Le Monde.
This new contract, if it goes through, would add a significant boost to this, serving as a potential reminder of Musk's potential power within the current governmental structure.
Musk has offered his own defense and clarification of the situation on X, illustrating:
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"To be clear here, the Verizon communication 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.
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"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."
Musk then had to offer quite a significant correction in the replies, affirming: "The ancient system that is rapidly declining in capability was made L3Harris. The new system that is not yet operational is from Verizon."
Many online have offered their own reservations and frustrations at the potential Starlink takeover, with users on the r/technology subreddit providing strong resistence:
"If it were even possible to give Elmo the benefit of the doubt given his history (and in a normal functioning government), he should be required to end all contracts between his companies and government," argues one user, adding that "at the very f***ing least, he should be barred from any new contracts coming in via DOGE."
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Another agrees that this situation is a "huge conflict of interest," but thinks that the "Supreme Court won't care."
"He'll treat it like Tesla, where they use customers as beta testers," the commenter argues. "Except this time the customer is going to be a plane full of 300 people."
It's unclear whether the Starlink takeover will officially go through in the capacity that is currently being rumored, but the concerns of many aren't just limited to the conflict of interest and extend into general public safety too.