Air Traffic Controllers Start Resigning as Shutdown Bites
www.thedailybeast.com
Unpaid air traffic controllers are quitting their jobs altogether as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history continues.

Overtaxed and unpaid air traffic controllers are resigning “every day” due to stress from the government shutdown.

“Controllers are resigning every day now because of the prolonged nature of the shutdown,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told CNN.

“We hadn’t seen that before. And we’re also 400 controllers short—shorter than we were in the 2019 shutdown.”

Air traffic controllers are federal workers, which means they are part of the approximately 730,000 federal employees working without pay since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

    • madcaesar@lemmy.world
      231·
      3 days ago

      The first time I’m reading about this. If the situation were reversed Republicans would be on every show everywhere repeating this taking point.

      Democrats need to fucking hammer the Republicans on this 24/7 on every outlet possible.

    • ɔiƚoxɘup@infosec.pub
      31·
      2 days ago

      Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who introduced a bill to pay both federal workers required to work during the shutdown and those who are furloughed. This proposal was supported by several unions representing federal workers but was ultimately blocked by Senate Democrats. https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/politics/shutdown-congress-federal-pay-vote

      So I’m confused. Was this another bill?

      E: https://lemmy.world/comment/20388431 helped clear that up a bit. Thanks friend.

      • paranoid@lemmy.world
        21·
        3 days ago

        The bill is called “The true shutdown fairness act”, and it is a poorly named response to the republican “shutdown fairness act”.

        The main differences between the bills (which aren’t really covered in the news, but you can read the bills) is that the shutdown fairness act was limited to excepted employees (those who have to work without pay), as well as some military personnel and some contractors. But it gave trump discretion about who could get paid, and did nothing for furloughed employees, nor guarantee all service members or contractors get paid (again, because it allowed trump to pick and choose)

        The true shutdown fairness act aimed to ensure all federal employees and service members get paid, and prevent mass firings during the shutdown. I don’t know/understand why this bill was rejected (I’ll edit if I can find anything)

        This post and this post go into a bit more detail.

        Edit: I can’t find a news article with direct quotes, but this is part of the ai overview (so take it with a grain of salt)

        Underlying reasons: Democrats opposed the Republican bill because they felt it would grant the President too much power to decide which employees would be paid and which would not. Republicans, in turn, blocked the Democratic bill, with Johnson expressing concern that it would limit the President’s ability to manage the government and potentially reduce the workforce.

  • LoafedBurrito@lemmy.world
    15·
    2 days ago

    Get out now, the government is never reopening and this will be our new future.

    This is the small government the GOP base wanted.

    • frog_brawler@lemmy.world
      171·
      2 days ago

      Kinda hope THIS government never reopens but I’m not going to leave, I want to help establish the “something better” that’s going to come after this shit is gone.

  • stringere@sh.itjust.works
    38·
    2 days ago

    I hope we can all agree that people should not be furloughed or working without pay during this shutdown but something I haven’t seen reported on is the effect this will have on economies locally and nationally.

    Napkin math so someone correct me if needed:

    • 4.5 million furloughed or working without pay.
    • Average salary I found was $68,000 but let’s use 50,000 to account for the top paying jobs probably still getting paid.
    • That gives us $4,166 monthly.
    • For each month of shutdown that comes to $18,747,000,000 that isn’t being spent

    While I’m sure most of us Americans could do with less consumption, I can’t help but wonder how many small businesses are going to suffer from this. This is especially true for areas with large amounts of federal employment.

    • BanMe@lemmy.world
      15·
      2 days ago

      There are actually projections for the economic downturn to come that do and don’t factor in the government shutdown reaching thanksgiving, then Christmas. So it is being considered in terms of consumer spending as a whole, but you mentioned small businesses specifically, and they are the ones that will be hurt more than anyone in what’s to come. Although, I’m seeing more and more local-only-economies pop up, where you all try to keep money within the network of the community.

      The projections I saw were for the economy to level off by 1Q 2026, but if the shutdown reaches Christmas, it’ll actually shrink an entire point.

  • BetaBlake@lemmy.world
    432·
    3 days ago

    I’m sure this is Bidens fault somehow right? Isn’t that usually how this goes, blame Biden for some shit that has nothing to do with him?

    • NABDad@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      3 days ago

      Well…if he had gotten the justice department to actually nail Trump, then we might have avoided this.

      • FlyingCircus@lemmy.world
        132·
        2 days ago

        If Kamala had declined to support genocide… If Obama had prosecuted the 08 banking criminals… If Gore had contested the 2000 election…

        As awful as the Republicans are, we must remember that the Democrats have always succeeded at making sure their colleagues across the aisle never face too severe consequences. After all, that would make dinner on Thursday quite awkward.

    • eletes@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      Pretty sure this is the plan though, privatize and sell it to Trump’s buddies. Wouldn’t be surprised if Palantir or Oracle had a product in development.

      In may Duffy announced equipment overhauls, they could have tapped a company around then too

  • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
    15·
    2 days ago

    At least I’m guessing those unpaid federal workers won’t vote republican for the rest of their lives

  • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    I don’t see why you would do that job if know you’re going to frequently go for weeks / months without pay once every year or two, you’re constantly understaffed, and you’re working like this in 2025…

  • CriticalMiss@lemmy.world
    111·
    2 days ago

    inb4 he says “what’s the usecase for air traffic controllers anyway? just land wherever you see a free runaway”

      • witten@lemmy.world
        5·
        1 day ago

        "Excellent question! This isn’t just air traffic control. This is air traffic controlGPT. Here’s how to bring in your plane for a safe and effective landing:

        1. The first step—and this is critical—is to check for a runway. Without a runway, your landing may be bumpier than usual.
        2. …"
  • JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 days ago

    Does AF1 use civilian or military ATC? Would be hilarious if the fat bastard got grounded as a consequence.

    • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.mlEnglish
      5·
      2 days ago

      Just use jets to shoot down anything in the flight path. Then a helicopter follows behind sprinkling Crack on each crash site.

  • atmorous@lemmy.world
    4·
    3 days ago

    Well shit. Looks like we have to make HSR and Transit happen now. It’s definitely not a good way to get the ball rolling for it even though HSR/Trams/Trolleys/Transit are a good thing but now there is no choice really if people want to get around the country

    Being in airplanes at all currently in this country is not viable