About 5,000 workers are maintaining FAA equipment, along with 14,000 air traffic controllers, who are all working without a paycheck.
In recent days, a record number of air traffic controllers took unscheduled time off, causing a cascading effect of hourslong delays for travelers. At the same time, the FAA slashed flights at 40 US airports, so controllers who do show up could safely handle the traffic.
When Amanda James, who’s been at the FAA for over three years, saw news of a funding deal this week, she said, “I’ll believe it whenever I see it done.” James and her husband, a controller with the FAA for over 11 years, have been through shutdowns before and had been saving in case another one should happen.
“We are here to ensure that the flying public is safe and to continue maintaining those standards of safety,” James said. “The added stress of everything going on, you don’t want (that), and somebody who’s distracted mentally or emotionally or financially having to come to work.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the loss of pay for essential FAA employees a “crisis within aviation” on Tuesday.
“The problem is with air traffic controllers, the American people feel that probably most acutely when they’re not paid,” Duffy said. “A lot of them have taken leave. They’re not coming into towers. That has created significant disruption throughout aviation.”
Duffy has said some controllers may be calling out in protest, while others could be working other jobs to support their family. Some simply get sick or become exhausted from the stress of not knowing when they will get paid.
Read more about the FAA workers going without paychecks here.
