Trump admin exploring options to pay air traffic controllers
US air traffic controllers' next paycheck will only include zeroes.
The Trump administration has sought options to pay air traffic controllers (ATC) in the United States, who, despite the lapse in federal funding, have continued to work during the shutdown, while officials warn that the controllers’ next paycheck will be $0.
According to a report by POLITICO, citing people familiar with the matter, the Trump administration, which has been very local about its goal of increasing ATC staffing levels throughout the country since its inauguration, has looked into ways to pay controllers during the shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025.
One source told POLITICO that the administration would have to come up with more than $500 million to cover the monthly salaries of controllers working in the US. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), over 14,000 ATCs staff more than 500 towers, as well as facilities, across the country.
While, according to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (GEFTA), ‘excepted’ employees, including controllers, are set to receive retroactive pay once federal funding is restored, many ATCs have expressed that they will struggle financially if the government shutdown continues.
Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, has confirmed that while controllers received a partial check on October 14, their next paychecks will only include zeroes.
On an appearance on Fox News, which Duffy shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Secretary said that what might happen is that the National Airspace System (NAS) might see disruptions as more controllers “say how do I bridge the gap between the check that is not coming and putting food on my table.”
“We have heard they are taking Uber jobs, they are doing DoorDash, figuring out ways to keep their families afloat. […] A lot of them are paycheck to paycheck.”
In another televised appearance on CNBC on October 20, Duffy was hesitant to provide a straight answer when asked whether some controllers would be let go if they do not show up to work. He said that while he does have the authority to fire them, “a vast majority of them are amazing controllers, […] we do have a few locations where there [are] more problems” even without the government shutdown.
“If we see a pattern of people not showing up, or when things are difficult and people call in sick, I think those are people we should look at.”
Duffy reiterated that the FAA needs more of them, noting that the NAS is about 2,000 to 3,000 short of controllers right now, and that the administration is looking to “add to the number [of controllers], not subtract the number.”
The Trump administration has had no issues funding other branches of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Krisi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, said that more than 70,000 officers across the DHS “will be paid for all hours worked during the shutdown period.”
Noem has not been afraid to spend some cash to fund other items, including two second-hand Gulfstream V private jets for the DHS. The sum for the two? $172 million, according to The New York Times.
Rytis Beresnevicius
Whatever the case might be, if the government shutdown continues and controllers have to work without getting paid, the level of disruption might rise sooner rather than later. So far, staffing triggers across the NAS have been limited, with none on October 21 at the time of writing.
However, as controllers look to get funds to feed their families elsewhere, they might call in sick to do work that pays them, which, as Duffy has said multiple times, might be working as a driver for Uber, for example.
The cascading effects, including flight delays and/or cancellations, could result in a government reopening. Case in point: the 2018-2019 shutdown, when 10 controllers called in sick on a single day, resulting in severe air travel disruptions across airports in the US, according to CNN.
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