Air traffic controllers are overworked and traumatized. Now with a government shutdown, it’s about to get worse for the people who are in charge of making sure air travel is safe and efficient.
The government shutdown started on Wednesday and is continuing into Thursday, with the Senate out of session for Yom Kippur.
Thousands at the FAA are getting furloughed, but none will be air traffic controllers. Field training and hiring for more controllers won’t be interrupted as well, according to the latest Department of Transportation shutdown contingency plan. But air traffic controllers will still be facing difficulties.
Personnel who are deemed essential are required to get back to work during a shutdown under the “protection of life and property” exception, even if it is without pay. More than 13,000 air traffic controllers employed by the DOT fall into that category.
The controllers are currently already working mandatory overtime, clocking in for 10 hours a day, six days a week, according to the labor union National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA).
“The increased stress and fatigue that comes from working long hours without pay cannot be overstated,” NATCA President Nick Daniels said in a press statement on Wednesday.
The air traffic controllers are also required to work without the help of support staff. More than 2,350 aviation safety professionals represented by NATCA have been furloughed due to the shutdown.
“Government shutdowns reduce the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS) and erode the layers of safety that allow the flying public to arrive safely and on time to their destinations,” NATCA shared in the press statement. “During a shutdown, critical safety support staff are furloughed, and support programs are suspended, making it difficult for air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals to perform at optimum levels.”
An Aviation Funding Stability Act was introduced last month by Democratic representatives Steve Cohen of Tennessee and André Carson of Indiana that would keep essential FAA employees, including air traffic controllers, paid for 30 days in the event of a government shutdown. It’s not yet been voted on.
Once the shutdown is eventually over, the workers will get paid for their time, and they have not missed a paycheck yet. The air traffic controllers get paid biweekly, ENO Center for Transportation senior fellow Jeff Davis told Gizmodo, and the next payday will be the following week on Friday, October 10. If the shutdown ends by then, the issue is resolved. But the problem is that there is currently no clear end in sight for the shutdown.
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