More than 2,000 flights were canceled this Monday in the United States and Donald Trump threatened air traffic controllers who were absent from work to cut the salaries due to them after the lifting of the budget blockade. Although a solution appeared to emerge after a deal in the Senate, the shutdown has now lasted more than 40 days, leaving more than a million civil servants without pay, including air traffic controllers.
They are experiencing increasing no-shows, and, to avoid accidents, authorities have been asking airlines for several days to cancel flights, causing disruption. “All air traffic controllers must return to work immediately!!! All those who don’t will take a huge cut” from their salaries, the American president wrote on his Truth Social network.
Instead, he cited a “10,000 dollar bonus” for each supervisor who remains in office during the budget blockage, and described civil servants in these situations as “true patriots.”
“The vast majority” of air traffic controllers “continue to do one of the most demanding and stressful jobs in the world, despite the lack of pay,” countered the national union of air traffic controllers (NATCA) in a reaction sent to AFP. Earlier the same day, at a press conference, the organization called on political leaders to end the government shutdown.
“Enough is enough,” union president Nick Daniels said, adding that air traffic controllers “should not be used as pawns in political games.” He highlighted the human cost of budget paralysis, and emphasized that this situation increasingly endangers aviation safety with each passing day.
Financial uncertainty
“It’s been 41 days since air traffic controllers were hit by financial uncertainty that created stress, frustration and pressure that prevented them from being 100% focused on their mission,” lamented Nick Daniels. According to him, agents “no longer know how to pay for gas to get to work” or even child care services.
Nick Daniels also reports that air traffic controllers are starting to take odd jobs to pay the bills, adding to burnout. The flight cancellations, requested by public air regulator the FAA, aim to reduce the volume of aircraft that have to monitor on-duty air traffic controllers, many of whom are forced to work “six days a week, 10 hours a day”, according to the NATCA union.
More than 2,000 flights were canceled Monday in the United States and more than 7,000 flights were delayed, according to the website FlightAware. At Newark Airport, near New York, passengers made cancellations and delays, without blaming air traffic controllers.
“It’s a shame for this country that these people don’t get paid, and I think they’re saints for continuing to work for days without getting paid,” retiree Will Aston-Reese said, for example, while waiting for a flight to Seattle, on the other side of the country.
Angeline Mathews, a 21-year-old student, is having difficulty finding an alternative solution to reach (southern) Louisiana. However, he considered that the Democratic Party was right to oppose the majority of the Republican Party. “It does have a negative impact on society, but it’s not in vain. Hopefully it can bring something positive,” he said. 2,000 km to the south, in Miami, Will Roses wants to believe that the situation will be resolved politically “so we can move on to something else”.
