Among the government employees who are required to show up to work, and for now are not getting paid, are air traffic controllers.
There are more than 14,000 air traffic controllers who work for the Federal Aviation Administration. It’s work that is stressful and can be full of high-anxiety to begin with, and a shutdown and potential for massive job cuts compound the pressures of the job.
A recently retired, 35-year veteran controller who worked at several major U.S. facilities and airport towers told WTOP, “The air traffic profession is a stressful situation no matter what’s going on in the political sphere.”
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It’s not the first time some controllers have expressed feeling that their jobs were being used as part of a game or tug-of-war between political parties. The former controllers’ union, PATCO, held a brief strike in 1981 during former President Ronald Reagan’s administration, protesting wages and long work hours. Thousands of those striking workers were fired.
“Sometimes the profession is used as political pawns between the different parties, and it shouldn’t be that way. But funding for the Federal Aviation Administration is discretionary rather than mandatory and many don’t know that,” said the veteran controller, who WTOP agreed to keep anonymous.
Already, there have been staffing issues at several U.S. airports where control towers have gone understaffed, such as in Burbank, California, and Nashville, Tennessee.
There’s been a growing amount of general flight delays and cancellations, including at Reagan National Airport. Those numbers continue to grow by the day as the number of shutdown days increase.
“Safety is No. 1, paramount, in every controller’s mind,” the veteran controller said. “They are a highly-skilled, technical workforce that they’re able to mostly put their problems aside and do the job safely and efficiently day in and day out.”
During the shutdown period, there hasn’t been any documented airline or airport incidents relating to a lack of safety reported by airlines or government agencies.
In the case where the control tower at Burbank Airport was not staffed, operations and airport traffic were handled by San Diego controllers, CNN reported.
WTOP was told by the veteran controller that hearing about an empty tower is disconcerting, however, takeoff and arrival routes and sequences operate much like vehicles lining up to exit and reenter a major highway.
“You still need great communication between pilots and the controllers, but it’s a manageable situation,” the veteran controller said.
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