Are air traffic controllers the key to ending the shutdown?

Since the start of the establishment shutdown thousands of flight delays have bottlenecked tour at major U S airports due in no small part to staffing shortages Related Articles Federal Reserve likely to cut key rate Wednesday and may signal another cut to follow Amazon cuts corporate jobs as spending on artificial intelligence accelerates Survey finds inflation slower hiring undermining worker confidence Foreclosures are up Here s why experts aren t worried Economists are realizing the job realm is cooling Workers have known it for months Air traffic controllers and other TSA workers are considered essential which means they ve been required to work since Oct when the shutdown began Like other essential federal regime workers controllers are expected to clock in without pay until the shutdown ends It s no secret that workers prefer to get paid for their labor which has led to specific calling out sick Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has threatened to fire the matter children workers who don t show up estimated to be around of controllers Absences among air traffic controllers and TSA workers have strained the air expedition system slowing measure lines disrupting flight operations and causing delays and cancellations across the country The ripple effects extend beyond airport delays undermining business and tourism spending and eroding consumer confidence As any air traveler knows delays are common due to bad weather mechanical issues and volume of flights But disruptions have spiked since the start of the shutdown On Oct alone over flights were delayed with Southwest Airlines reporting the highest number of delays among all airlines and Chicago O Hare International Airport experiencing the the bulk disruptions of any U S airport Earlier this month Duffy notified Fox Business that normally worker absences cause of delays now they account for half As controller mass callouts increase and flight delays multiply could the resulting disruption pressure lawmakers to decisively end the shutdown New history suggests that it might Controllers influenced the end of a previous shutdown During the -day-long - establishment shutdown hundreds of TSA officers called out sick slowing airport precaution lines while a handful of controller absences were enough to snarl airports nationwide Mass absences hit a fever pitch on Jan as delays all along the East Coast airports temporarily shut down voyage at New York s LaGuardia airport The impact the workers absences had on air tour has widely been credited with pressuring lawmakers and first-term President Donald Trump to reach an agreement ending the shutdown The National Air Traffic Controllers Association NATCA has resisted the narrative that controllers wielded that much power over lawmakers during the previous shutdown In a press conference on Oct Nick Daniels president of NATCA explained Air traffic controllers are not responsible for starting a shutdown and we re not responsible for ending shutdowns Only our elected leaders are and our elected functionaries need to end this shutdown currently The Trump administration is reportedly trying to find tools hundreds of millions of dollars to pay controllers during the shutdown and reduce the number of callouts The shutdown could worsen the air traffic controller shortage Airports were already shortstaffed on controllers before the shutdown began At the Oct NATCA press conference Daniels mentioned there are at present certified controllers in the U S compared with a target of They work six days a week hours a day and they usually only have four days off in an entire month Those are already heroic efforts Daniels explained The controller shortage isn t due to the federal employee purge following the start of President Donald Trump s second administration no air traffic controllers were removed at that time The administration initially sent air traffic controllers buyout offers but later rescinded them However the Federal Aviation Administration FAA and Transportation Department did reportedly fire workers who backing maintenance of air traffic control communications according to a Feb declaration by the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists a union representing FAA employees Solving the controller shortage isn t easy The FAA hires new controllers two to three years in advance of expected headcount losses due to retirements firings transfers and other reasons That hiring period allows for sufficient training time according to the FAA record Events in up-to-date years have presented training and hiring challenges too The FAA called out three factors that have slowed down controller hiring including a hiring freeze beginning in Fiscal Year the pandemic and notably the administration shutdown between and The FAA has worked in newest years to close the gap on worker shortages By the end of September the FAA communicated it exceeded its goal of hiring air traffic controllers the largest number of hires in nearly a decade it noted But as Daniels comments illustrated past hiring efforts haven t been enough The shutdown is ultimately in lawmakers hands Since the start of the shutdown the Senate has voted a dozen times on short-term stopgaps Every attempt whether a vote on opposing measures or just the GOP stopgap has been shot down Democrats are seeking physical condition care spending concessions which Republicans reject Both parties are standing firm with no sign of budging As time drags on without pay controllers will likely continue to call out of work and travelers will bear the frustration of delays and even cancellations But it s likely a combination of pressure from multiple sources not just air journey gridlock due to controller staffing shortages that will push lawmakers toward a deal The administration shutdown has already had a wide range of impacts on Americans outside of progress delays Thousands of other federal employees are being furloughed while other essential workers continue reporting without pay Social benefits including WIC and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Venture SNAP will be halted beginning Nov until the shutdown ends Permitting and loan programs for small businesses are paused Federal courts around the country are running out of funds and are limiting operations Federal benefit application and processing services including Social Defense and Medicare are operating at reduced levels The U S Treasury estimates the shutdown could cost the business sector as much as billion in lost GDP per week More From NerdWallet Your Top October Money Questions Answered Statistics Blackout Leaves Fed Guessing Ahead of Rate Decision Paychecks on Pause Lessons Everyone Can Learn From the Shutdown Anna Helhoski writes for NerdWallet Email anna nerdwallet com Twitter AnnaHelhoski The article Are Air Traffic Controllers the Key to Ending the Shutdown originally appeared on NerdWallet