This International Air Traffic Controller Day, US controllers are still going without pay

While the whole world is celebrating the International Air Traffic Controller (ATC) Day on October 20, which marks the anniversary of the establishment of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA), controllers in the United States are still without pay as the government shutdown continues.

The shutdown has been slowly affecting the National Airspace System (NAS), with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) status page of the NAS showing that on October 19, there were staff triggers at ten ATC facilities. On October 20, so far, there has been a single staffing trigger in place at PHL Area C, which oversees air traffic from/to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

When the government shutdown began on October 1, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) warned that shutdowns degrade the safety of the NAS, eroding the layers of safety that allow the “flying public to arrive safely and on time to their destinations.”

Critical safety support staff are furloughed during the shutdown, yet ATCs, considered ‘excepted’ employees, continue working without pay. Per the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (GEFTA), they would receive retroactive pay.

Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation of the US, said during a press conference at EWR on October 6 that controllers would get paid on October 14.

US DOT’s Duffy brings pizzas to now-unpaid air traffic controllers at EWR

Duffy was concerned that, in addition to their already stressful jobs, controllers are now also stressed about their ability to pay bills.

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However, during the same press conference, Duffy stated that “absenteeism” has been concerning to him, especially if controllers “take sick leave to drive Uber to make the difference,” which are decisions that ATCs are going to make themselves.

On October 18, NATCA shared several testimonies of its members, with controllers detailing their experience during the shutdown. “Our biggest challenge right now is continuing my child’s medical therapies during the prolonged shutdown,” one said, while another, whose husband is also an ATC, said that one of their five children has an autoimmune disease that requires daily care. 

“A partial paycheck or no paycheck at all could detrimentally impact our ability to provide for her medical needs.”

Pete LeFevre, a controller at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), appeared on MSNBC on October 17, and said that now, as controllers are facing the likelihood of not receiving a paycheck, “the financial uncertainty that a zero paycheck brings for us” is on everybody’s mind working at IAD’s facilities. LeFevre confirmed that the October 14 paycheck was only a partial one, and while controllers are set to receive IOUs (I owe you, or written acknowledgements of debt), they “do not pay the bills.”

“It is challenging for us. As a facility, we are all coming together as best we can, trying to support one another.”

The union has offered its members resources to deal with the financial strain, including emergency relief loans, potential hardship assistance, and other assistance, such as free meals at TGI Fridays.

Meanwhile, the current Trump administration continues to blame Democrats for the shutdown without attempting to compromise. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader of the US Senate, explained that the government shut down because Donald Trump, the President of the US, and the Republican Party “are hell-bent on taking healthcare away from 16 million people” to continue “giving tax breaks to their billionaire friends.”

Duffy, who dubbed the federal funding lapse the ‘Schumer-Jeffries Shutdown,’ has called for the end of “political games so air traffic controllers can get paid.”

"Many controllers have to find second jobs like driving Uber, just to bridge the gap and put food on the table. Democrats: open the government NOW so controllers can feed their families!"

At the same time, the administration has managed to find funds to pay, for example, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, confirmed that “more than 70,000 sworn law enforcement officers across” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are going to get paid “during the Democrats’ shutdown.”

“By Wednesday, October 22, law enforcement officers will receive a ‘super check’ –which covers the 4 days lost, their overtime, and their next pay period.”

In addition, the Democrats of the US House Committee on Appropriations blasted Noem and DHS for spending $200 million “of taxpayer money on a pair of top-of-the-line luxury Gulfstream G700 private jets during a government shutdown.”

The New York Times reported on October 17 that the DHS has bought two second-hand G700s for $172 million, with the Department telling the publication that the replacement of its older private jet was a “matter of safety.”

US DOT warns EAS subsidies could stop after October 12

Funding for EAS has already been under attack, yet the program seemingly survived the cuts in the newest budget bill.

The Engine CowlRytis Beresnevicius