The new secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, appeared to walk back an enticement to retire, saying F.A.A. safety workers were exempt from the offer for federal workers.

The basic problem, which reformers have been trying to remedy since the Clinton administration, is that the system is operated by a cumbersome federal bureaucracy—the same bureaucracy that’s also responsible for overseeing air safety. The FAA is supposed to be a watchdog, but we’ve put it in charge of watching itself.