In May, Edge reported that the US aviation system is so fragile that “the slightest glitch could throw the entire system into chaos.” This failure occurred on October 1st when federal government shut down due to a budget dispute. Indeed, chaos ensued.
The data shows more than 6,000 flights are delayed daily, nearly double the historical average for October. Department of Transport statistics. TSA has warned of longer security lines at airports and stopped updating real-time checkpoint information in its MyTSA app. Some major airports were even forced to operate without air traffic control for several hours.
The reason for the failure is payment or lack thereof. When the federal budget ran out on October 1, more half a million the employees were immediately fired. But the nation 75,000 air traffic controllers and transportation security officers on the front lines “excluded” employees who must come to work regardless of the circumstances.
In the statement published on XTransport Minister Sean Duffy tried to reassure his staff.
“The controllers coming to work will get paid,” he said, “just not on time.”
This won't work for many furloughed employees who can't afford to work on a permanent IOU, according to Jonny Jones. He has been with TSA since 2002 and represents TSA employees in the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union in the country.
“Our number one concern is the uncertainty of how long this is going to go on and how long you're going to have to come to work without pay,” he said. Edge. “You live off what you were able to save. And you had maybe a week or two's notice.”
Federal workers can do little to publicly advocate for the wages they are owed. Air traffic controllers know this lesson especially well. In 1981, 13,000 of them went on strike demanding higher wages, adequate staffing and overall improved safety. Referring to 1966 law which prohibits federal employees from striking, President Ronald Reagan not only fired striking workers — he also banned them from holding any other federal office for life. This single action stopped the strike, but also created an air traffic control crisis that continues to this day.
Sick leave is one of the few levers essential workers can use. Under contracts, air traffic controllers and Elevator Emyob can use their deferred sick leave with minor restrictions if they don't call for more than three days in a row.
Before the shutdown, some controllers used sick leave to give themselves a temporary break from the grueling schedules that can require them to work. 10 hours a day, six days a week. Others have used it to cope injury from equipment downtime this instantly put dozens of commercial flights at risk of collision. They are now using sick leave to relieve the burden of working in a job that won't be able to pay them for the foreseeable future.
On October 6, Duffy held a press conference outside baggage claim at Newark Airport to discuss the personnel situation.
“We track sick calls, sick leave,” He said. “We've had a little trouble in some areas and we're getting better at it.”
Even a “small increase” can have huge consequences for the entire country.
On the same day, 11 major air traffic services announced that staffing levels would fall so low that they could not safely handle planned traffic volumes. Hollywood Burbank Airport air traffic controllers were not on duty for almost six hours; pilots take off or land at the airport had to agree with each other on a common radio frequency.
Since then, staffing shortages have affected half the nation's airports, a third of arrival and departure airports, and tower operations at Austin, Chicago, O'Hare, Denver, Phoenix and Reagan airports. On Friday, October 10, at the start of the Columbus Day holiday weekend, more than 7,700 flights were delayed across the country – or nearly one out of every five scheduled flights, FlightAware reports.
In an interview with Fox BusinessDuffy threatened to fire “a small group of supervisors who don't show up for work… problem kids.” And the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing the majority of air traffic controllers in the United States, warned its members not engage in “coordinated activities that negatively affect the capabilities of the NAS” [national airspace system]”
But this is not a coordinated activity. These are people who use the tools they have to protect themselves from unnecessary exploitation.
The impact on airport security is more difficult to assess. As of October 9, TSA has published daily wait time data on Xsomething he had never done before. However, the agency does not hold accurate historical recordsit is therefore impossible to put these numbers into context. We know this Thousands more TSA employees called in sick than usualsince many of them cannot afford to take a job for which they will not be paid.
The government shutdown during the first Trump administration lasted 35 days. longest in US history. For now, the current one will last at least 19 days, since Congress will not return from recess until October 19th.. Until this ends, the situation for travelers—and for those essential workers who keep America flying—will only get worse.
“People can't come to work if they don't make money. Daycare centers don't take IOUs, grocery stores don't take IOUs, gas stations don't take IOUs,” Johnny Jones said. “If this continues for 30-40 days, the airport will become a ghost town.”
