Air Journey Breakdown Possible As Unpaid ATC And TSA Employees Face Stress

United CEO Scott Kirby (L) and American CEO Robert Isom hear as DOT Secretary Sean Duffy speaks to reporters outdoors the White House on Thursday. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch)

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A breakdown in business aviation might be as shut as the following few days, and it’ll seemingly lead finally to an finish of the federal government shutdown now in its 31^st day, says flight attendant chief Sara Nelson.

Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, the biggest flight attendant union, emerged as a pacesetter of the trouble to finish the 35-day 2018-2019 strike. She stated the influence of this week’s failure to pay about 10,800 air site visitors controllers and 60,000 Transportation Security Administration staff implies that increasingly confused staff gained’t come to work.

Staff shortages at TSA result in lengthy strains and probably to flight delays, whereas workers shortages in ATC result in flight delays and cancellations to protect security.

The Commercial Aviation System Is Under Immediate Stress

“As I said in 2019, the system will break,” Nelson stated Friday in an interview. “The system is everyday people who are heroes right now for working through this and keeping the economy going. But those heroes are human and there is a breaking point for humans.

“We know what happens when the planes stop,” Nelson stated. “We see the influence of the shutdown there probably the most. Some individuals don’t get drugs. The economic system stops. The nation stops. We will see the shutdown influence that, as early as this weekend or early subsequent week.

“For air site visitors controllers, who’re underneath resourced already, it’s not as if they are going to decide to not work. At some level they gained’t be capable to safely do their jobs and so they must report that,” Nelson said. “In order to keep us safe, that will slow things down. ”

On Thursday evening, the FAA warned in an advisory that Orlando International Airport was closed for a period when “no arrivals will be able to land as there will be no certified traffic controllers available.” Average delays on Thursday night were nearly three hours. Delays also occurred at JFK and DCA.

Air Traffic Controllers Missed Paychecks on Thursday

Controllers missed their paychecks on Thursday, Oct. 30. Anthony Schifano, president of the Charlotte local of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in an interview on Wednesday that “controllers are “concerned, frustrated, disappointed. It’s just human nature. You can handle things for a while, but things compound. You can tell over time that people start to get frustrated.

“Air traffic control is a profession where you have to be at 100% for 100% of the time,” said Schifano, a controller for 25 years. “The way we are trained to operate is all about mitigating risk.” However, he stated, stress from not getting paid “is not mitigating risk. It is introducing risk. ”

Airline Execs Back A Republican Plan To Open The Government

Nelson dismissed the calls Thursday by four airlines for a “clean continuing resolution,” a Republican-backed effort that would fund the government until Nov. 21 without addressing Democrats’ concerns that under the “CR,” health care costs would rise for 24 million Americans covered by Obamacare.

Following a White House meeting on Thursday, United CEO Scott Kirby told reporters that Congress should pass the CR, adding that the shutdown is putting stress on the economy. “It has been 30 days – I also think it is time to pass a clean CR,” said Kirby, who added that Congress should negotiate health care after the shutdown ends.

Said Nelson, “What you see from airlines is short term solutions and disregard the long-term effects. It’s a false narrative.” Paying federal workers and providing adequate health care should not be played off against each other, she said. Rather, “this shutdown needs to end now, and both crises can be solved with one vote.”

What Ended the 35-Day 2019 Shutdown?

On Jan. 20, 2019, the thirtieth day of the previous shutdown, Nelson spoke out at a widely covered AFL-CIO event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. She advocated for other workers to join federal workers in a general strike. By Jan. 23, one in ten airport security workers did not show up for work. On Jan. 24, Nelson spoke at a media event at National Airport, again advocating for action to end the shutdown. “Many of these people are our veterans,” she said, her voice wavering. “Many of these people are fighting for our country right now, and we are not paying them.” A video of the speech went viral on social media.

On the next day, Jan. 25, East Coast flights were briefly grounded when about a dozen air traffic controllers at FAA oversight facilities in Jacksonville, Fla and Washington, who oversee planes already in the sky, did not report for work, saying they could no longer do their jobs safely.

On that day, President Trump, who had insisted on border wall funding, endorsed a stopgap bill to reopen the government for three weeks while allowing for Congress to negotiate a deal. Widespread social media, newspaper and magazine coverage gave Nelson credit for ending the shutdown. A month later, a New York Times headline proclaimed, “The Shutdown Made Sara Nelson Into America’s Most Powerful Flight Attendant.”

Nelson spoke out at a rally final week. In the interview, she stated this shutdown is totally different in that “this time, it is a continuation of an effort to dismantle the government and programs that take care of people. But what’s not different is what I said in 2019, that the system will break when planes stop flying.”