As the government shutdown stretches on with no signs of an end in sight, the airline industry is feeling the strain, and air traffic controllers have warned that it makes air travel less safe for passengers.
The government shutdown has forced air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers to work without pay for the past several weeks, with many air traffic controllers officially missing their first paycheck this week.
This has led to staffing shortages and strain on the individuals whose job is to ensure safe air travel, and that could make travel a little less safe.
Air Traffic Controllers Miss Paychecks
Tuesday marked the day that air traffic controllers missed their first full paychecks as the government shutdown continues.
While many of them are prepared to go without one paycheck, Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that they might not be prepared to last much longer than that.
“Many of our controllers can make it without this first paycheck; they’ve been in the job 10, 15, 20 years; they’ve planned for days like this,” Duffy said at a news conference at the LaGuardia Airport, via the New York Times. “Almost every controller can’t make it two paychecks.”
Earlier this week, Duffy said that he had already seen signs that the air traffic controllers are “wearing thin.”
“Just yesterday, Maria, we had 22 staffing triggers. That’s one of the highest that we’ve seen in the system since the shutdown began,” he said earlier this week. “And that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin.”
Air Travel is ‘Less Safe’
As air traffic controllers continue to work without pay, Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, warned that the strain this puts on them makes air travel “less safe.”
“America’s air traffic controllers are now having to focus on how they put gas in the car, how do they take care of their children, how do they pay for child care,” Daniels said during Tuesday’s news conference. “That makes the system less safe.”
The strain has been felt the most by the newer, less experienced air traffic controllers, who are struggling to learn a stressful job and have lower salaries than the more veteran controllers.
“We have trainees trying to learn a new job that is very fast paced, very stressful, very complex, now having to worry about how they’re going to pay bills,” said Joe Segretto, a senior air traffic controller at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control facility.
“As we talk about morale, it’s diminishing,” Segretto said.
Duffy Promises to Value Safety
While Daniels warns that the staffing shortages and delayed paychecks make air travel less safe, Duffy has vowed to prioritize safety – even if it means slowing down the whole system.
“My job is to keep the airspace safe. And so, if I don’t feel like I have enough controllers or enough controllers that are focused, we will slow down traffic, we will stop traffic,” Duffy said this week.
While this could mean a less efficient system, it would ensure safety.
