Air Traffic Controllers Miss First Full Paycheck as Shutdown Causes Thousands of Flight Delays

As the government shutdown stretched into its 28th day, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that disruptions and flight delays could intensify throughout the U.S. air system as roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers missed their first full paycheck.

Staffing shortages during the government shutdown have repeatedly disrupted the aviation industry, with nearly 7,000 flights delayed on Monday and 8,800 on Sunday. As of 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, about 3,000 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website.

At a press conference at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Duffy and Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), warned that the government shutdown is worsening the already critical controller shortage, endangering the U.S. air traffic system, jeopardizing recruitment and training, and placing severe financial strain on current controllers.

“The pressure is real,” Joe Segretto, an air traffic controller, said. “We have people trying to keep these airplanes safe. We have trainees—that are trying to learn a new job that is very fast-paced, very stressful, very complex—now having to worry about how they’re going to pay bills.”

Duffy said the shutdown is also hindering the government’s goal of reducing the longstanding shortage of about 3,000 controllers. He said that some students have dropped out of the air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City, and younger controllers who are still training to do the job might abandon the career because they can’t afford to go without pay.

“This shutdown is making it harder for me to accomplish those goals,” Duffy said.

Drew Stewart, a controller at Seattle Center and father of two, said he and his wife—both FAA employees—“have no paycheck, continue to go to work and do safety-critical work, and have no way to provide for our two young children.”

In Denver, Jenny Benjamin at the ZDV center said, “I don’t know when my family is going to get our paycheck to pay our childcare, pay our mortgage.”

At the Los Angeles Center, trainee Lea Rossil said, “I’m a single mom to a 5-year-old, and I support my 13-year-old half-brother who’s in foster care.”

In New England, engineer Matt Jones described sleepless nights: “We are all working without pay, and it creates a lot of stress and anxiety. Missing a paycheck has kept me up at night.”

At Colorado Springs Tower, Brittney Armbrust explained: “Losing a paycheck adds significant stress to all of us. It adds an additional mental load that we shouldn’t have to deal with.”

"The first day is hard, but the second day is even harder than that. And the third day. Because they have gas, they have childcare costs," he said.

"I had one controller tell me, 'My 10-year-old daughter made the traveling volleyball team, and it cost hundreds of dollars. I had to tell her I couldn't pay the money because I don't have a check coming in. I have to put food on the table,'" Duffy continued. "It's tragic. But here's what's even worse. Democrats aren't voting to open up the government."

"You are safe to fly because these controllers come in, they're the most amazing professionals. They do their job, they keep you safe. But again, I don't want them driving DoorDash. I don't want them going to the food bank. I want them focused on keeping you safe," Duffy said.

Duffy cautioned that both delays and cancellations are likely to intensify.

“My job is to keep the airspace safe, so if I don’t feel like I have enough controllers, or enough controllers that are focused, we will slow down traffic. We will stop traffic,” he said, adding that safety concerns are the number one reason there are delays in the system.

Airlines for America, which represents American, Delta, Southwest, and United, urged lawmakers to pass a “clean continuing resolution” to reopen the government, warning that the ongoing strain on the system will inevitably slow operations and result in even greater delays for both travelers and shippers.

The Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, which represents 30,000 pilots, described the shutdown as a direct threat to safety. Meanwhile, the Allied Pilots Association, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, and NetJets pilots’ union all called for bipartisan action to fund the government and ease the mounting strain on air traffic controllers and TSA agents.

The Air Line Pilots Association stated that requiring aviation professionals to work without pay “undermines the safety and security” of the aviation system, while the National Air Traffic Controllers Association stressed that “ending this shutdown and putting everybody back to work" is the only solution.