Air Traffic Controllers Are Bargaining Chips in Government Shutdown

Pete LeFevre is worried about how his coworkers will get by if they don’t get paid next week.

It would be the first $0 paycheck for America’s 13,000 air traffic controllers during the second-longest government shutdown in US history. Like most federal employees, they got a partial check last week because the pay period started before the shutdown began.

“We’re all going to be faced with a tough decision,” the Washington, D.C.-based controller and union representative told Business Insider. “On my one day off, am I going to drive for Uber, Uber Eats, Instacart, so that I can make my payments?”

One of America’s most stressed-out professions holds a delicate power in Washington’s standoff. Chaos from the 2019 shutdown is fresh in politicians’ minds: Air traffic controllers called out sick en masse, triggering airport snafus nationwide — including the temporary closure of New York’s LaGuardia Airport. It ultimately forced the end of the longest government shutdown in US history.

Three controllers told Business Insider they don’t want to be the barometer for whether the nation’s aviation system could once again reach its breaking point — they just want to do their jobs, be paid fairly, and support their coworkers.

“Air traffic control doesn’t start shutdowns, and we don’t end shutdowns. It has zero to do with us,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association labor union, told Business Insider.

If Congress remains deadlocked by November 5, it will mark the longest shutdown in US history. And Washington is watching closely to see whether controllers will flex their power amid threats of dismissal and mounting pressure to keep flights safe and on time.

“We want to continue to perform for the American people,” LeFevre said, “but we don’t want the financial uncertainty in the back of our minds when we should be 100% focused on the work we do.”

Stressed-out air traffic controllers just want to be ‘fat, happy, and moving airplanes’

Air traffic controllers described frustration at being caught in the middle of a government shutdown with no end in sight. As politicians spar, their paychecks hang in the balance. Controllers are expected to get back pay once the shutdown ends.

One said controllers just want to be “fat, happy, and moving airplanes.” Pressure from the Trump Administration to show up to work without pay has them stressed and distracted. Public discourse about their salaries has also ruffled feathers.

In an X post, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote, “Did you know the starting salary for controllers is $180K/year and can go as high as $400K/year?”

Some in the industry said Duffy was trying to distort public perception of their plight.

“I’m sure it probably makes society go, ‘Well, why don’t you have enough money in your bank account?'” said former military air traffic controller and Florida Institute of Technology professor Margaret Wallace.

In reality, the industry’s pay range is wide and depends on years of experience and the airport’s traffic. Overtime is also common and pays time-and-a-half.

According to the FAA employee pay table, entry-level controllers earn a base pay between about $55,000 and $68,000, while veteran controllers at the highest-traffic airports can eventually earn up to $225,700. In Atlanta, for example, at the world’s busiest airport, fully certified controllers start at about $161,000.

A Department of Transportation spokesperson told Business Insider that the average certified controller earns over $160,000 a year within three years of leaving the training academy.

Younger controllers, in particular, may need to resort to gig work to pay the bills while their paychecks are frozen. One told Business Insider that others in their facility are actively driving for Uber or Instacart to make extra money.

LeFevre said asking who is pursuing gig work is a common topic of conversation in the break room, even though controllers are working up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, and face mandatory overtime. (This schedule was a common reality before the shutdown due to a decadeslong controller shortage.)

“If you worked our schedule, you’d notice serious impacts to sleep, quality of life, and your immune system takes a noticeable and seriously concerning hit,” the first controller said. The other controller said people in their facility are scared to call out, even if they don’t feel fit for duty.

Controllers worry they could be fired for calling out

Duffy has praised those who show up to work during the shutdown, and warned that “problem children” could be fired.

Controllers say they have not had to worry about that in the past. The industry’s safety culture encourages them to stay home when tired or sick without fear of punishment.

One controller said they believe that some are taking advantage of the situation and calling out in protest, but they don’t like this because it leaves their coworkers to carry the load. Still, they said, “sick leave for fatigue is very real.”

There’s bipartisan concern about overworked and overtired controllers being pushed to the brink — and the gravity of the situation is mounting as airports face staffing issues almost daily.

Several US airports, including Chicago and Atlanta, experienced staffing shortages over the weekend. On October 6, a Los Angeles area airport was temporarily closed for six hours because its tower was unstaffed.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, drew attention to an 88-minute staffing-related delay in Newark earlier this month and urged Congress to act. President Donald Trump this week sent “super checks” to pay select law enforcement during the shutdown, but not to controllers. He previously suggested that furloughed federal workers may not receive back pay.

Wallace said that morale in the profession is low, and comments like Duffy’s further fuel the stress and distractions.

“Is Trump going to fire them like Reagan did?” she said, referring to when former president Ronald Reagan fired controllers striking over what they said were low wages and long work days. “Those are all realistic feelings, and I know they’re feeling the pressure.”