Air traffic controllers say they want their minds on the sky, not missing paychecks, as federal shutdown rolls on
WINDSOR LOCKS, Connecticut – The people who manage air traffic over southern New England are going without pay. They plan to help travelers understand how that feels.
On Tuesday, on what would normally be payday for them, air traffic controllers will be visible in the passenger terminals at Boston Logan International Airport handing out leaflets and making their case to the traveling public, said Kevin Curtiss, regional vice president of the New England chapter of NATCA , the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
There are 560 FAA air traffic controllers across New England, including about 45 air traffic controllers/trainees and safety professionals in two facilities at Bradley International Airport.
Unless something changes drastically, each one will get zero-dollar paychecks Tuesday despite having worked their regular shifts throughout the federal government shutdown, said Curtiss.
The 45 controllers in Connecticut work both at the Bradley airport tower and the Yankee Terminal Radar Approach Control, or Yankee Tracon, also located at Bradley.
As necessary federal workers, air traffic controllers come to work even if the federal government has not passed legislation to pay them.
Meanwhile, Curtiss said mortgages and childcare bills are due.
"That's something controllers are thinking of as they come into work," he said this week.
The job is already high-stress and demanding, he said. "We need to be right all the time."
He said he expects controllers to do the same at Bradley – the airport serving the Hartford-Springfield area – in the future if the lockout continues.
Starting pay for trainees is $40,000 to $50,000 a year
"A lot of those individuals are living paycheck to paycheck," Curtiss said.
Air traffic controllers at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport and Worcester Municipal Airport are hired through a contractor and are not so far affected, according to officials at those terminals.
Controllers at Westover Air Reserve Base are provided by the Air Force.
Curtiss said air traffic controllers likely didn't get paid for all their hours in their last pay period.
There is some financial help available. Lenders offer forbearance on mortgages and the employees' credit union is offering no-interest loans, he said.
The federal government has warned that there could be increasing disruptions in travel due to the shutdown.
"We have seen some delays," said Mark Schieldrop, a spokesman for AAA Northeast. "It really depends on the day."
For travelers, it is a two-pronged threat. The controllers might stay home. The TSA officers, also working without pay, might stay home.
"Thanksgiving travel is right around the corner," Schieldrop said.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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