Air traffic controllers ending government shutdowns : NPR

A air traffic control tower is seen on Wednesday after the government closed at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas. The US government has closed after the Congress failed to pass short -term funding. Almost seven years ago, air traffic controllers may have helped play at the end of the last government closure.

Brandon Bell / Getty images

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Brandon Bell / Getty images

Washington – More than a month after the government’s closure in 2019, some air controllers finally reached their breakdown.

There was only a “slight increase” of sick leave in two facilities in Virginia and Florida which manage high altitude traffic, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. But it was enough to throw some major airports from the East Coast in chaos.

With another current closure, US airlines are preparing once again for the possibility of delays and disturbances in commercial aviation.

“You have the reality of human beings, a lot of [whom] Are a pay check living in the pay check, “said Dennis Tajer, a longtime driver for American Airlines, and a Union spokesperson who represents his 16,000 pilots.” It does not take long before the system slows down. The safety margin is always protected. But what is happening is that we have the amount of planes that the system can contain. “”

This is what occurred on January 25, 2019, when a shortage of air controllers forced the FAA to limit traffic at Laguardia airport in New York, as well as other major airports in Newark, NJ in Orlando, Florida.

On the same day, President Trump agreed to finance the temporary government financing, effectively putting the longest closure in the history of the United States after 35 days. The exact quantity of these commercial aviation disruptions had to do with the financing agreement remains open to interpretation, although some observers think it was an important factor.

Washington legislators appear far from an agreement to end the current government closure that started early Wednesday morning.

Contrary to the previous closure, the Ministry of Transport indicates that it will keep the opening of the FAA Traffic checking Training Academy, part of a thrust to achieve its ambitious hiring objectives.

However, the closure will harm nearly 14,000 current controllers who must work there, even if they will not be paid before the end.

“It is unnecessary distraction” in addition to what is already “one of the most stressful jobs around the world,” said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Cuellers Association, in a video message to members published on Sunday.

“We have people who will have to decide, do I take a second job? Should I do Uber? Should I find a source of income during this period?”, He said.

But Daniels urged controllers to be professional – and pleaded them not to engage in any type of coordinated professional action, as this could encourage the Trump administration to try to award the union.

Passengers travel the security lines of Reagan national airport on the first day of the US government closed in Arlington, Virginia.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images

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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images

“Our professionalism and our credibility will be examined. And not only is your career at stake, but the right to have a union will be at stake during this period,” said Daniels during a recent meeting with members.

The union denies having a role in the slowdown in the country’s airspace in 2019. But as this incident has demonstrated, even a small number of controllers calling for patients can have a significant impact.

“It is a disaster for me,” said a current air traffic controller that manages the flights approaching and leaving flights at a large American airport. He asked NPR not to use his name because he is afraid of the FAA reprisals.

“I work at the highest level of air traffic control as a profession, and I fight financially,” said the controller. “And miss a pay check – I can probably miss one. But it’s going badly.”

The controller said that morale on the job market is lower than it was six years ago, because the shortage of personnel has worsened and that the remuneration stagnated. And he thinks that air traffic controllers again call for patients.

“He shouldn’t even be organized,” said the controller. “I think enough people will individually make the decision they do not want to go to work, it will not last a lot of time.”