Air traffic controllers miss their first paychecks

U.S. air traffic controllers on Tuesday missed their first full paycheck since the government shutdown began earlier this month, while the Transportation Department said flight delays due to staffing shortages had increased.

Controllers are facing increased financial stress and it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit much-needed workers, union officials and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday. Air traffic controllers and airport security screeners are among the employees required to work during the shutdown as essential employees, even if they do not receive regular paychecks.

“The problems are getting worse every day,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said at a news conference at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Duffy told reporters that 44% of flight delays on Sunday, and about 24% of them on Monday, were caused by air traffic controller personnel, compared with about 5% of delays so far this year.

Duffy also said the shutdown is hurting government air traffic training and recruiting, and that some funds for trainee stipends are “about to run out.”

Officials with the air traffic controllers union said some members drive ride-sharing platforms and take other jobs to make ends meet.

Union members, including its president, plan to hand out leaflets and address the public at several U.S. airports on Tuesday, urging travelers to push Congress to end the shutdown.

The government shutdown, entering its fourth week, has added to concerns about additional strain on the U.S. air traffic control system, which has strained airlines and travelers due to years of understaffing.

Earlier this month, flights were delayed at several U.S. airports, but the severe disruptions that preceded the end of the longest shutdown on record, between late 2018 and early 2019, did not occur.