The Trump administration’s latest attempt to conjure up money to pay air traffic controllers during the federal shutdown appears to have hit a hard wall. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted Tuesday at LaGuardia Airport that the FAA’s budget offers “not a lot of leeway” to keep frontline aviation safety workers paid.
In plain English: Congress has to act.
“The answer is open up the government,” Duffy said, or Senate Democrats could pass legislation to ensure essential workers see a paycheck. He emphasized it is a “really simple solution,” though getting anything done in Congress often defies even the simplest logic.
A previous attempt, Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) bill S. 3012, failed in a procedural vote last week. So controllers will continue doing their jobs, relying on the fact that air traffic is far too critical to mess with, even during a shutdown.
Controllers wield a subtle kind of leverage. If a few mysteriously “call out sick” at a major FAA facility, flight delays could spike and lawmakers might feel the heat to cut a deal. But for now, National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels assured reporters there will be no official labor action. “It is illegal,” he reminded everyone.
Duffy added that controllers have been showing up for work, and airspace problems so far have been milder than in previous shutdowns. Staffing-related flight delays dropped from 44 percent on Sunday to 24 percent on Monday.
Looking ahead, the only remaining near-term option may be a bill from Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas), S. 3031, designed to pay controllers and TSA baggage screeners during the shutdown. For now, essential workers keep flying high while the rest of Washington negotiates whether to loosen the purse strings.
The takeaway: If you’re hoping to get home on time, thank a controller. If you’re hoping they get paid without Congress acting, well, keep hoping.
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