Unions that represent pilots, flight attendants, and air traffic controllers warned Thursday that the partial federal government shutdown has created an “unprecedented” level of risk in flying.
“We have a growing concern for the safety and security of our members, our airlines, and the traveling public due to the government shutdown,” the union leaders said in a joint statement. “This is already the longest government shutdown in the history of the United States and there is no end in sight. In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented.”
Most of their members have not been furloughed and have been overworked for a month now, they noted.
The statement was signed by Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Joe DePete, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, and Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
[Also read: TSA calls for airport backup as more staff stay away from work during shutdown]
The federal shutdown began on Dec. 22. Most federal workers whose jobs are related to security or safety are obliged to work even though they are not being paid, including most federal workers involved in air safety. However, new workers are not being hired and existing ones are being forced to major amounts of overtime to make up the slack, the union leaders warned.
“Staffing in our air traffic control facilities is already at a 30-year low and controllers are only able to maintain the system’s efficiency and capacity by working overtime, including 10-hour days and 6-day workweeks at many of our nation’s busiest facilities,” they said. “Due to the shutdown, the [Federal Aviation Administration] has frozen hiring and shuttered its training academy, so there is no plan in effect to fill the FAA’s critical staffing need.”
Some workers whose jobs don’t involve immediate safety issues have been furloughed, the union leaders noted, and their absences are having a negative effect. “Major airports are already seeing security checkpoint closures, with many more potentially to follow. Safety inspectors and federal cyber security staff are not back on the job at pre-shutdown levels, and those not on furlough are working without pay. ”
Congress has passed legislation to ensure that all federal workers receive back pay once the shutdown has ended.
