WASHINGTON — Responsible for safely delivering countless passengers and packages that crisscross our country's complex airspace, the government shutdown has cratered the morale of the nation's 15,000 air traffic controllers unpaid for 28 days of work.
"It's a slap in the face," said Mick Devine, a tower controller at Boston Logan International Airport who spoke to WUSA9 on behalf of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "People see the problems with the TSA, but I don't think they understand what it is that we do."
Spending their shifts in secure federal facilities, union members have begun handing out pamphlets to travelers at major airports nationwide including Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport.
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Controllers received a $0.00 paycheck last Friday and are bracing for the next paycheck, due January 25, to read the same. Controllers are promised backpay when the government reopens, but there remains no end in sight nearly a month into the impasse between President Trump and Congressional Democrats over border security.
"It's horrible," said Devine. "These jobs take a toll and I don't want to explain to my kids I can't come home because I had to leave work to drive Uber for eight hours."
Devine is aggressively dipping into savings to support his three children. His wife, also a furloughed air traffic controller, is seven months pregnant.
It is against the law for federal employees such as controllers to strike. President Ronald Reagan fired 13,000 PATCO controllers who went on strike in 1981.
Controllers warn of a more muted protest with veteran employees already talking of retirement and rookie recruits considering other jobs not under the auspices of federal funding bills. Devine says over time, that will reduce the number of airplanes that controllers can handle, potentially slowing your next flight or package delivery.
"The damage has already been done," said Devine.