As airports across the country are dealing with air traffic controller shortages due to the government shutdown, lawmakers are grappling with the effect this may have on recruitment for the position.
One of the most tangible ways the public experiences a government shutting down is through travel complications at the airport. But some senators are worried that, with an already overworked air traffic controller workforce and long-standing recruitment issues for the roles, the idea of controllers working without pay could make the job’s problems even harder to solve in the long run.
“What I’ve learned about recruiting and hiring more air traffic controllers in the country is there’s always a challenge,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján said. “And there’s more that Congress should be doing, and the president’s administration should be providing support to our air traffic controllers across America. Anytime that there’s additional challenges and layers on top of normal times, it creates more problems.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Republican on the Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation, said that the shutdown’s effect on controllers has “been minimal right now, but that eventually will change.”
“So I think again, the time is of the essence to approve the clean CR and give us, I guess, more like six weeks to work on the appropriations bills,” Schmitt added.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday said that the shutdown was adding additional stress on the air traffic controller workforce, noting that there was an uptick in controllers calling out sick.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to a NOTUS query that it “is not responding to routine media inquiries” during the “lapse in funding.” The Department of Transportation responded with a statement issued on Tuesday.
“We’re seeing an uptick in controller shortages across the country,” the Department of Transportation said in the statement. “And where are the radical democrats? Voting against giving our great controllers a paycheck. This is the last thing they need.”
The lack of controllers was noticeable at several airports Tuesday night. The Department of Transportation reported shortages in seven cities, including Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia. Nashville International Airport’s approach facility had to shut down for five hours. And on Monday, Hollywood Burbank Airport’s tower in California was forced to close.
On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers were crossing their fingers that long-term effects would be minimized, even as their constituents start to notice longer waits.
“I hope it’s not a longer-term impact,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, the chair of the aviation, space and innovation subcommittee. “It needs to be fixed. We need to get the government back in business.”
When asked by NOTUS whether he was concerned about flight safety, Sen. James Lankford said he was not, adding, “I do have concerns about flight timeliness.”
“There’s a lot of good people at TSA, on the border, and other folks that are showing up, that are doing the work, that are engaged. And to have air traffic controllers intentionally trying to be able to slow the system down is frustrating,” Lankford continued.
Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in an interview with NPR that even just a few sick calls would lead to traffic complications given how understaffed the air traffic controller workforce is across the U.S. He denied that there was any coordinated effort on his union’s part to call in sick.
“Air traffic controllers have to show up to save people’s lives, and if they’re not fit for that duty because they’re worried about, you know, everything that’s going on at home — putting food on the table, gas in the car, making sure their kids are looked after — that’s something that we have to face,” Daniels told NPR.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member of the subcommittee on aviation, space and innovation, also expressed empathy for the workers.
“They are overworked, understaffed, and I can imagine that some of them are getting sick,” Duckworth told NOTUS.
In May, Duffy announced a new plan to modernize communication systems and recruit more controllers. However, Democrats have criticized him and the Trump administration for firing hundreds of FAA staff this February.
“I have confidence in our federal workforce but I know they’re also under undue stress,” Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester said. “Even the messaging this administration puts out, it dampens morale.”