Hundreds of air traffic controllers take second jobs as US shutdown continues

Hundreds of U.S. air traffic controllers have taken second jobs after missing their first full paychecks due to the government shutdown, intensifying strain on an already stretched aviation safety system, a union official said.

Air traffic controllers and trainees are taking side hustles like waiting tables, delivering food for DoorDash , driving for Uber, grocery shopping for Instacart and signing up as weekend tutors to make ends meet as the shutdown enters its 28th day. "We're talking to our coworkers about how to get zero-interest loans," Mike Christine, National Air Traffic Controllers Association's (NATCA) eastern regional vice president, told Reuters. Controllers are swapping notes about which companies are deferring payments and who is donating food to workers, he added. They missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday. Roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work without pay after a budget impasse between Republican President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats triggered the shutdown.

Controllers, who only received a partial paycheck two weeks ago, have increasingly called in sick in recent weeks. That has led to thousands of flight delays per day and hundreds of cancellations that have frustrated the public and intensified scrutiny of the shutdown's impact, raising pressure on lawmakers to resolve the situation. The number of controllers working second jobs is set to rise as they look for ways to pay their bills, NATCA President Nick Daniels told reporters on Tuesday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. "By the hundreds, they're right now doing second jobs. Tomorrow, it will be in the thousands," Daniels later told Reuters in New York at LaGuardia Airport as controllers handed out leaflets to passing travelers, urging them to contact their local officials to end the shutdown.

He said the lack of pay was a dangerous distraction. For younger controllers who have just moved across the country to start their first job, are in training or have not yet built up their savings, the financial strain is more pronounced.

"They are the most vulnerable that is out there. They're the ones that are absolutely feeling the greatest amount of this impact," Daniels said.

Rising delays
Staffing shortages during the government shutdown have repeatedly disrupted the aviation industry, with nearly 7,000 flights delayed on Monday and 8,800 on Sunday. As of 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) on Tuesday, about 3,000 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that air traffic controller absences were the primary cause. He said 44% of delays on Sunday and 24% on Monday were caused by air traffic controller absences, compared to 5% on average before the shutdown. Even before the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration was about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels, with many already working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks. Duffy was speaking at a press conference at LaGuardia Airport, flanked by air traffic controllers and the president of their union, the latest in a series of airport appearances aimed at prodding Democrats to give up opposition to the Republican-proposed government funding bills.

He said it remained safe to fly, and the FAA would slow flights if controllers were not at work at certain towers.

The department had not been able to find funding to pay controllers, Duffy said, urging Democrats to vote to open the government.

"Don't hold our skies hostage," Duffy said. "There is not a lot of leeway we have to get people paid." Democrats say Republicans refuse to negotiate and are responsible for the continued shutdown. Southwest Airlines had 34% of its flights delayed on Monday, while American Airlines had 29%, according to FlightAware. United Airlines had 19% of its flights delayed and Delta Air Lines had 22%. In 2019, during a 35-day government shutdown, the number of absences by air traffic controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending wait times at some airport checkpoints.

Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington, and the flight disruptions were credited with prompting the government to end the shutdown.