As the government shutdown stretches into its fourth week, the airline industry is continuing to feel the strain as air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers continue to go without pay, leading to staffing shortages that result in delays and cancellations.
This week, many of those federal government employees missed their first full paycheck since the government shut down at the beginning of the month, and that’s led Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to issue a clear warning to all travelers about what that could mean for them.
Workers Miss Paychecks
As the government shutdown continues, many air traffic controllers and TSA officers will miss their first paychecks this week, marking what could be a turning point in the shutdown.
“They get a notice of what they’re going to be paid on Tuesday, and they got a big fat zero. No paycheck is coming on Tuesday, and so I’ve been out talking to our air traffic controllers, and you can see the stress,” Duffy told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo in an interview.
Duffy has 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 added. “And that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin.”
Duffy said that many of those employees are starting to feel stress and have resorted to finding other jobs, like Uber or
“These are people that oftentimes live paycheck to paycheck, or one controller has a stay-at-home spouse,” Duffy said. “They’re concerned about gas in the car. They’re concerned about child care and mortgages. And so I’m seeing the stress come for the controllers.”
Duffy Issues a Clear Warning
As the air travel industry continues to deal with staffing shortages, Duffy has warned that those will ultimately lead to delays and traffic stops.
“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,” he told Bartiromo.
This mirrors a warning that the FAA delivered to all travelers earlier this month, warning of possible delays as a result of the government shutdown.
So if you plan on traveling through the air in the next several days or weeks, be warned that it may not go as smoothly as you would hope.
