The Recurring Shutdown Squeeze: Why Aviation Workers Still Can’t Count on a Paycheck
The refrain is familiar, echoing through the halls of power in Washington D.C. time and again. Bills like the “Aviation Funding Solvency Act,” the “Keep America Flying Act,” the “Keep Air Travel Safe Act,” and the “Aviation Funding Stability Act” all point to the same persistent problem: ensuring federal employees crucial to air travel – from air traffic controllers to passenger and baggage screeners – receive their wages during government shutdowns.
Despite bipartisan sponsorship and repeated introductions, these legislative efforts consistently fall by the wayside. Once the immediate crisis of long queues and flight disruptions subsides, public attention wanes, and the urgency to pass lasting solutions evaporates. This leaves dedicated workers in a precarious position, their paychecks vulnerable to the whims of political impasses.
“Once the crisis is over, people assume that the good times are back,” explains Eric Chaffee, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University whose research delves into risk management within the aviation sector. “It’s easy to pass the next big bill when you’re still in the throes of the financial crisis, but once the shutdown is done, people have a relatively short memory of the problems that it created.”
Since 2019, following a partial shutdown that significantly impacted holiday travel, lawmakers have been drafting, refining, and reintroducing various proposals. These aim to secure the pay of aviation personnel who are obligated to report for duty even when the government is unfunded.
Specific legislative proposals highlight this ongoing struggle:
- The Aviation Funding Stability Act: Introduced in 2019, 2021, and again in 2025, this bill, along with the bipartisan Aviation Funding Solvency Act proposed after a recent shutdown, specifically targets the pay of air traffic controllers.
- The Keep Air Travel Safe Act: Introduced in October, this legislation extends similar protections to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents.
- The Keep America Flying Act: Also from October, this bill encompasses both TSA personnel and select employees within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Beyond these aviation-specific measures, broader proposals like the “Shutdown Fairness Act,” introduced in January, seek to guarantee pay for all essential federal workers across the U.S. government. However, these wider-reaching bills have also stalled.
“Congress cares about headlines, and as a result of that, it means they don’t always make changes that would be really beneficial,” Chaffee notes, underscoring a perceived focus on immediate public perception over systemic reform.
The Cycle of Disruption and Uncertainty
The recurring shutdowns that cripple air travel continue to punctuate the ongoing debate over protecting aviation workers’ pay. A significant 35-day shutdown during President Donald Trump’s first term, stemming from funding disputes for a border wall, led to considerable delays at East Coast airports and extended wait times, as air traffic controllers and TSA agents worked without pay.
More recently, a 43-day shutdown, the longest on record, reignited concerns about the consequences of expecting air traffic controllers to operate without remuneration. The FAA, citing aviation safety risks, was compelled to order U.S. airlines to reduce flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. This drastic measure was a direct response to increased unscheduled absences, which exacerbated existing staffing shortages within air traffic control facilities.
TSA officers, who endured the prolonged shutdown, also faced subsequent, shorter funding lapses. Thousands began missing shifts daily as the stalemate dragged on, impacting their financial stability.
Carlos Rodriguez, a TSA agent and union leader in New York, shared the plight of many workers who had not financially recovered from the previous shutdown when the next one hit. “Part of the American dream that I was sold was that working for the government was honorable and stable,” Rodriguez stated, a second-generation Dominican American. “But this is not honorable or stable.”
In a moment of crisis, on the 42nd day of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, an emergency order was issued to ensure TSA agents received immediate payment. This action followed a defeat in the House of Representatives for a Senate deal that would have funded the TSA, U.S. Coast Guard, and FEMA, but excluded Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. While the House later passed its own bill to fund DHS through May, senators had already departed.
Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the TSA division of the American Federation of Government Employees, voiced the resentment felt by union members whose livelihoods are weaponised in political games. He described the congressional machinations as akin to a chess match, where essential workers become pawns in a strategic power play. “We’re on the chess board,” he lamented.
Public Pressure Mounts for a Solution
In response to the ongoing instability, labour unions, airline executives, and airport leaders have amplified their calls for action. They have issued open letters, placed newspaper advertisements, and made direct appeals to lawmakers, urging them to adopt one of the existing bipartisan proposals designed to ensure the pay of essential government workers in the aviation and travel sectors.
The Modern Skies Coalition, a group representing over 60 organisations, issued a joint statement this week, asserting, “Congress has the power to end this dysfunction once and for all, and must use any legislative vehicle to accomplish this goal.” They pointed to the Aviation Funding Solvency Act, Aviation Funding Stability Act, and Keep America Flying Act as viable pathways forward.
Similarly, the president and CEO of Airlines for America, a major U.S. airline trade group, penned an op-ed in The Washington Times, imploring Congress to “get to the table immediately” and pass legislation to prevent further scenes of passenger frustration, overcrowded terminals, and donation drives for public servants.
“Right now, lawmakers are sitting on their hands doing nothing with three viable, bipartisan bills that could prevent this mess,” wrote Chris Sununu, a former New Hampshire governor now leading the trade group.
The American Federation of Government Employees, alongside more than 30 other unions, has urged Congress to pass the Shutdown Fairness Act, warning that funding lapses severely damage employee morale, recruitment, and retention.
Breaking the Cycle of Financial Hardship
The human cost of these recurring shutdowns is stark. Some TSA workers have reported sleeping in their cars or contemplating selling them to cover rent. Union leaders have described employees unable to afford groceries or fuel.
Caleb Harmon-Marshall, a former TSA officer and creator of the travel newsletter “Gate Access,” highlighted the urgent need for back pay. He stated that officers he has spoken with are struggling to meet their financial obligations and are accumulating debt. Without greater financial certainty, he warned, more officers might miss shifts or resign.
“If the president’s emergency order only funds a single pay period, that’s not enough to bring them back,” Harmon-Marshall explained. “It has to be an extended pay for them to come back or want to stay there.”
Past legislative attempts, even those with bipartisan backing, have failed to cross the finish line. For instance, the Aviation Funding Act of 2019, introduced by Republican Senator Jerry Moran with 13 co-sponsors (eight of them Democrats), never advanced beyond committee. A House version, championed by Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio, garnered 303 co-sponsors and passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee but was never brought to a floor vote.
Chaffee suggests that the current highly polarised political climate in the U.S. may doom even the latest legislative proposals. “We live in a society currently where things are very polarised,” he observed. “Whether or not any of these bills get passed, it will need to have political momentum behind it, meaning it will need to be something that the public really wants to see happen.” Without sustained public demand and political will, the cycle of uncertainty for essential aviation workers is likely to continue.
