Due to the government shut down, air traffic controllers who are 100 percent guaranteed by law to be paid for 100 percent of hours worked are calling in sick so that they don’t have to “work without pay with (delayed) pay”. Now the FAA is cutting back on total volume so as to maintain safety with a reduced number of controllers who show up (CNBC):
Note the misleading statement about “gone unpaid since the shutdown began”. That would be like saying that a worker who has paid monthly has “gone unpaid since the start of the month”.
Cutting flights will cost the airlines a fortune due to the need to reschedule crews, passengers, aircraft, etc. Maybe a 6:00 am flight is only half full, but if it is cut the crew and plane won’t be where they need to be to operate a 9:00 am flight.
What if the airlines got together and offered interest-free loans to every controller, secured by the massive payday that all government workers, those who showed up and those who didn’t (the lucky “nonessential” ones and also the fake-sick ones), will receive as soon as Congress settles its differences? It could be done through the federal government, even. The airlines give the money to the Feds. The Feds issue paychecks as usual. The Feds then reimburse the airlines when the government reopens. Alternatively, the airlines could make the loans privately and directly to ATC employees.
Related:
- Is it unconstitutional to pay federal workers for not working during the shutdown? (Equal Protection clause question)
“guaranteed by “law”: How is that relevant? Trump (“I am the law”) is threatening to not backpay, and will do so if he feels like it. Oh sure the ATC can sue, but it’ll be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. So I guess there’s some salvation that maybe 3-4 years from now you’ll get your backpay. Sounds like a good way to hire quality people who are dedicated to their jobs.
Do you have a source for Donald Trump threatening to not provide back pay to workers who actually came to work? Or ATC specifically?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Employee_Fair_Treatment_Act_of_2019 says that workers who actually worked (the unfortunate “essentials”) were already guaranteed back pay prior to the 2019 law and cites a 2018 article on the subject: https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/pay-benefit-considerations-for-shutdown-furloughs/
@SS,
> Sounds like a good way to hire quality people who are dedicated to their jobs.
If furloughed federal workers were truly dedicated to their jobs, they would still show up and do their work, knowing full well that they would eventually be paid. By doing so, they would give the finger to Trump and rally the country behind them, forcing Trump and the Republicans into a corner they could not back out of. Yet, that is not what is happening. So, who are they dedicated to?
Trump and his OMB have said that back pay is not guaranteed. Spearker Johnson has indicated that he’s open to this idea. Almost no one would work after their employer told them there’s even a chance they won’t get paid.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-federal-workers-back-bay-shutdown-785eb776d2312d1f68f7e91961d0a93a?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share
And do you know why those federal workers who have “gone unpaid since the shutdown began” aren’t protesting? Because they know they will still get paid for their unplanned vacation.
1) Didn’t Trump find emergency funds for SNAP? Why not for ATC workers? Why aren’t there provisions for funding safety critical jobs like this during these shutdowns which are becoming routine? Thanksgiving (and Christmas?) ought to be fun this year, for those of you crazy enough to travel. Our government just seems designed to fail and be chaotic.
2) ATC workers could do what the most economically disadvantaged people sometimes do for a loan–a high-interest title loan on their vehicle, and take the bus. It doesn’t seem like they are very well-paid anyway, which is more craziness. Looks like whites are getting out of the profession, maybe the salary is why. Women are underrepresented at like 20% (although they seem to be paid more than men in this job), I’ve heard that women are more adaptive to stress.
3) Going forward, the ATC could be semi-privatized like the U.S. Post Office, or fully privatized like some highways in the U.S. with a toll system. One can imagine Phil feeding two or three hundred dollar bills into a machine before he is cleared onto the runway. Make the people that use ATC pay for it directly, including private and commercial planes. The privatization experiment has been tried with aircraft manufacturers essentially managing their own FAA certification, and that has worked out well as we all know.
4) Nearly 50 years ago my 5th grade class toured a tower with active operations in a mid-sized city (near a major AFB though). Almost all of us went on to other non-ATC jobs, shit didn’t seem worth it. I can’t imagine that field trip opportunity exists today. My classmate’s white father was a controller, and he lived a normal middle-class life with a stay-at-home wife (his daughter was way out of my league). When I was about 25 in ground school, we toured a NWS center which was also very interesting. I do hope well-adjusted people keep finding their way into this career (immigrants or not)–I would be terrible at it, I get pissed-off when I make a tyop. 🙁
5) You can’t even get people to cooperate at a 4-way stop sign these days. Seems like airlines would have to cooperate in order to be effective with Phil’s idea. Good luck with that.
How could I forget?
0) A.I. ATC A.I., now challenging beer for the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems.
ATCGPT-9000 > N1984, runway 27R is now clear, you are cleared for takeoff.
Grandma in 172 > Ground, this is Cessna N1984, shouldn’t I maintain holding short of 27R to avoid a collision with 737 MAX on imminent approach?
ATCGPT-9000 > I cannot assist with creating or describing scenarios that involve or could lead to a crash. Safety is the top priority in aviation, and it’s crucial to maintain a responsible and ethical approach to all discussions related to this field. If you have any other questions or need assistance with a different scenario, feel free to ask. Let’s focus on positive and safe aviation topics.
Grandma in 172> Fuck A.I., have a nice day!
ATCGPT-9000> Have a nice day N1984!
@philg: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/10/28/furloughed-federal-workers-shutdown-back-pay/86950108007/
“Trump’s threat came as the White House floated a new legal analysis earlier this month claiming the 750,000 employees furloughed during the shutdown are not entitled to back pay when they return.”