A senior Republican congressman has pushed back against Donald Trump's proposal to dock the pay of air traffic controllers who called in sick during the government shutdown. The shutdown, which lasted 43 days from October 1 to November 12, forced controllers to work without pay, leading many to take extra jobs or call out sick due to financial strain.
Rep. Sam Graves, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, told KFEQ that penalising workers without knowing their circumstances was unfair. “The problem with something like that is you really don’t know the circumstances,” he said. “They may have actually been sick.”
Graves highlighted the high-stress nature of air traffic control jobs, compounded by the anxiety of not being paid. “You also can’t fault somebody who’s trying to make a car payment and a mortgage payment,” he added. The widespread absences caused major disruption, prompting the government to cut flights at 40 of the busiest airports.
Trump initially vowed to cut pay for those who skipped work while offering bonuses of up to $10,000 for those with perfect attendance. However, the Federal Aviation Administration has not publicly indicated any plans to penalise staff. Of more than 10,000 workers, only 776 are set to receive the bonuses.
Graves has introduced a bipartisan bill to ensure air traffic controllers are paid during future shutdowns by tapping into a $2.6 billion flight insurance fund created after the September 11 attacks. “This bill guarantees that controllers… will get paid during any future funding lapses,” Graves said.
