Department of Transportation

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.

Photo: Department of Transportation

Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation of the United States, has met with air traffic controllers (ATC) at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), with the government official saying in a press conference later that he brought donuts, coffee, and pizza.

In a press conference at EWR on October 6, Duffy shared an update about the Department of Transportation's (DOT) work during the government shutdown. It began on October 1, when no appropriations legislation was passed for FY 2026.

Duffy said he had just visited ATCs at EWR, where he and controllers “had some donuts, brought some coffee, brought them some pizza.” The Secretary admitted that controllers, who are mandated to go to work since they are deemed ‘excepted,’ are “not just thinking about the airspace and the jobs they have to do in these towers,” they are also concerned about their paychecks and their well-being if the government shutdown continues.

According to Duffy, who said controllers are scheduled to be paid on October 14, the shutdown has “put way more stress on our” ATCs, already working a very stressful job. “We ask them to do their jobs on equipment that has not been state-of-the-art,” he said, adding that he wanted to listen to what controllers had to say during the shutdown.

“I want to make sure that Chuck Schumer [the Minority Leader of the US Senate – ed. note] and Hakeem Jeffries [the Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives – ed. note] know that this is not consequence-free.”

While Duffy blamed Schumer and Jeffries for the shutdown, with the DOT titling the Press Conference ‘US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy on Impact of Radical Democrats’ Shutdown on Our Skies,’ Schumer’s response was that the Republicans’ position that the Democrats want to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants has been a lie.

“Democrats are fighting to lower the cost of healthcare for the American people, because of a healthcare crisis the Republicans created.”

Putting political bickering aside, which Duffy had not been able to do during the press conference, the Secretary said that while controllers are more stressed right now, he said that the airspace of the US is not unsafe.

“If we think there are issues in the airspace, we will shut it down. We will close it down.”

Duffy answered a question about how long the National Air System (NAS) can run safely, with him sharing that that funding for the Essential Air Service (EAS) was supposed to run out on October 9, yet the DOT had managed to find “some more money to put into it,” which extended the EAS’ funding for at least three days.

Speaking about ATC, he said that “controllers have to show up for work.” The issue is that “they are not going to get paychecks,” which cascades into them thinking about bills and their payments.

“So, now they are thinking about that at the same time that they are controlling the airspace, which I do not like that.”

Duffy shared that he wants controllers to “leave their personal problems” when they enter the facilities they are working at, noting that these were the concerns that ATCs shared with him.

The Secretary of Transportation also noted that while there has not been an airport with “long-term issues with sick leave,” absenteeism is “concerning.” Duffy added that if someone is forced to “take sick leave to drive Uber to make the difference, those are decisions [controllers] are going to make for themselves.”

“But, of course, that is concerning for us. These are high-skilled, high-performing, safety-driven professionals. I do not want them driving Uber. […] I want them to get paid for the work they are doing today, keeping our planes in the air and our skies safe.”

While ATCs are not gonna get paid while there has been a lapse in federal funding, according to the National ATC Association (NATCA), they “must be paid for those work periods occurring during the lapse.”

During the same press conference, Nick Daniels, the President of NATCA, stated that while he “will leave the political discussions surrounding this shutdown to the politicians,” the shutdown must end so that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other aviation safety professionals “can put this distraction aside and focus completely on their vital work.”

This includes the DOT’s goals to supercharge controller hiring and the modernization of the ATC system, which are “long overdue” initiatives that require “our immediate and full attention,” Daniels said.