Government shutdowns are harmful to the national airspace system and weaken the US economy. They are also stressful and distracting about 20,000 Air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals, represented by my organization – the National Air Traffic Controllers Association – are the majority of whom are working without pay during the shutdown.
As the current shutdown continues into its fourth week, these highly skilled aviation security professionals are set to receive their first missed paycheck today.
Every day, controllers ensure safe and efficient movement of more than 45,000 flights over 29 million square miles of airspace, approximately 3 million passengers and approximately 60,000 tons of cargo. During shutdown, controllers continue to perform and perform their safety-critical functions at the highest level regardless of operation 3,800 less fully certified controllers of the Federal Aviation Administration’s staffing goals.
The controller workforce has been understaffed for more than a decade, resulting in mandatory overtimeThat includes regular 10-hour days and six-day weeks. Last year, controllers at 40 percent of FAA facilities worked six days a week at least once per month. Many facilities require a six-day work week.
The FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association are keenly aware of these low staffing margins and the complex effects they have on controller stress and fatigue. That’s why we strongly support Transport Secretary Sean Duffy plans to speed up the recruitment of controller trainees.
In fact, for the first time, Secretary Duffy directed the FAA to continue recruiting and training controller candidates at the FAA’s academy in Oklahoma City for the first two months of the shutdown. These measures will ensure that, unlike previous shutdowns, controller staffing is not negatively impacted.
Even when the government is not shut down, because Long-standing shortage of controlling staffThe absence of just one sick controller is likely to create significant staffing challenges at his facility. Furthermore, because all airspaces are interconnected, a challenge at one facility can have an impact on many neighboring facilities.
It is also important to understand that air traffic controllers are subject to some of the most stringent medical standards. The FAA considers controllers temporarily unable to perform their duties who take common over-the-counter medications such as Benadryl and Tylenol PM. These strict medical standards will remain in place before, during and after the shutdown.
On October 14, controllers received their first partial pay check, further increasing their stress, not knowing when they would be paid again, creating unnecessary risk to the national airspace system.
Some of the lowest-paid controllers work in the highest-cost-of-living areas, while others live paycheck-to-paycheck, trying to make ends meet. Instead of focusing solely on their jobs, these hardworking Americans now have to deal with the stress of their jobs while also worrying about how to pay their bills.
However, today controllers will receive their first zero-dollar pay check, or, as Duffy put it, “a big, fat voidNo income. Nothing while they are working full-time and, often, mandatory overtime.
These additional distractions will increase existing risks in an already stressed system. With each day the shutdown continues, the national airspace system becomes less secure than the day before, as controllers’ attention shifts from their critical safety functions to their financial uncertainty.
Despite these challenges, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association is proud of its role as an aviation safety organization that stands shoulder to shoulder with Duffy, FAA Administrator Brian Bedford, Congress, the Administration and all industry stakeholders. We look forward to collaborating to ensure that the impact of the shutdown does not cause permanent damage to the national airspace system.
That’s why we continue to strongly support Duffy’s important initiative to fully fund the modernization of the FAA’s physical and technological infrastructure, so that America remains the gold standard for global aviation. Controllers play a critical role in the development, testing, training, and implementation of new modernization and security programs and should continue to do so.
The sooner this shutdown ends, the sooner we can all get back to pursuing these shared goals. In the meantime, controllers will remain in place to ensure that the national airspace system runs as safely and efficiently as possible.
Air traffic controllers did not initiate the shutdown and are not responsible for ending it. Our elected officials must act now to reopen the government and restore order.
Nick Daniels is the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
