In DOT Shutdown Plan, Air Traffic Controllers Work Unpaid
DOT Plan Also Keeps FAA Hiring and Training on Track
Key Takeaways:
- The Transportation Department said Sept. 30 it will keep air traffic control services and training running during a government shutdown, protecting critical aviation functions.
- Aviation groups warned a shutdown could cost the U.S. travel economy $1 billion per week and strain the FAA with furloughs despite controllers working unpaid.
- Industry coalitions urged Congress to avoid a funding lapse, saying it could stall air traffic system modernization and trigger wider travel disruptions.
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The U.S. Transportation Department plans to insulate air traffic control services and training for new employees from a government shutdown, keeping vital aviation functions running even as the impasse over spending threatens to paralyze many other federal operations.
Congress has until the end of Sept. 30 to come together on a plan to keep the government open. President Donald Trump has threatened mass firings of federal workers if Democrats and Republicans can’t reach a resolution by then.
Aviation groups have the strains a U.S. funding lapse would have on the nation’s critical travel infrastructure, with one organization warning a shutdown would cost the U.S. travel economy .
The Transportation Department’s plan, , is similar to a blueprint it put out in March laying out which activities would continue in the event of a shutdown.
However, there are a few notable differences. Both plans included measures to keep the more than 13,000 air traffic controllers working without pay and to continue training for new controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration academy in Oklahoma City by relying on prior year funds.
Under the latest plan, however, air traffic controller hiring and field training would also continue — a key difference from the March plan, which would have paused those activities.
A , including those representing the largest U.S. airlines and manufacturers, wrote a letter to congressional leaders on Monday that a lapse in government funding could jeopardize progress the Transportation Department has made in its effort to overhaul the air traffic system.
The group also said that “although air traffic controllers, technicians, and other exempted aviation safety professionals continue to work without pay during a shutdown, many other FAA employees who support them are furloughed.”
The U.S. Travel Association, in an earlier letter to Congress, said a shutdown would hurt the economy and cause delays.
“The longer a shutdown drags on, the more likely we are to see longer TSA lines, flight delays and cancellations, national parks in disrepair and unnecessary delays in modernizing travel infrastructure,” the group’s CEO said in a released alongside the letter.
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