It is the 28th day of the U.S. government shutdown, and the first day many federal employees do not receive a paycheck.
“It’s disheartening,” Regional Vice President for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association Mark Rausch said. “We have so many proud professionals that work in aviation that work on the safety systems that help support air traffic controllers.”
Rausch is an aviation safety specialist at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport who has been furloughed since the start of the government shutdown. He and other specialists and air traffic controllers, who are paid by the Federal Aviation Administration, are taking a stance alongside several other airports across the country.
They handed out pamphlets all day asking travelers, “Will you support unpaid air traffic controllers?”
“Flying is just as safe as it’s ever been,” Rausch said. “We are just trying to ask the public to reach out and contact their representatives in Congress to say, ‘end the shutdown,’ so we can stop this distraction.”
Air traffic controllers and NATCA will be handing out pamphlets on the skybridges at SEA airport until the end of the week, at least. They said not only are they asking flyers to reach out to their Congressional representatives, but also want them to know why it is so detrimental that airport employees are unpaid or furloughed.
“Anytime that you do a shutdown, it introduces a distraction to the system. A distraction to safety,” Rausch said. “So, funding the air traffic controllers and aviation safety professionals is critical, because the flying public deserves to have the best, safest, most highly professional aviation safety system in the world.”
Rausch said air traffic controllers are already having to make difficult decisions, and more will have to do the same as the shutdown continues.
“We have folks that are having to make those tough decisions of ‘do I put gas in my car to drive to work where I’m not getting paid? Or do I put food on the table?'” Rausch said.
Rausch said moving forward, he would like to see “more stable funding,” which does not put air pay and safety at risk when there is a government shutdown.
He said staffing has already been an issue for more than a decade, and the problem is only being exacerbated by this. Travelers going through Sea-Tac spoke with were supportive of the FAA workers. Port of Seattle Commissioner Sam Cho brought sandwiches to the FAA workers handing out pamphlets.
“FAA workers are already under a tremendous amount of stress,” he said. “The reality is that working their shifts while knowing that their family isn’t going to have potentially rent to pay, food on their table, and tuition makes the job harder to do. Even if they’re showing up for work, they’re probably not 100% there because they’re concerned about their own livelihoods.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that as more people call out to go work a second job and bring in income or in protest because they are not getting paid, it will cause more disruptions to flights.
“We’ve gone up as high as 53% of the delays have been because of staffing shortages, and that number moves every single day,” Duffy said.
The 28-day shutdown duration reaching the first missed paycheck day transforms the crisis from abstract political dispute to immediate financial hardship where air traffic controllers face rent, mortgage, and grocery expenses without income.
Mark Rausch’s furloughed status as aviation safety specialist rather than essential air traffic controller illustrates how the shutdown affects support personnel whose work maintaining safety systems occurs behind the scenes but proves critical to operations.
The NATCA organizing efforts coordinating pamphlet distribution across multiple airports demonstrates national union strategy to leverage public pressure on Congress by making travelers aware of controllers’ plight and potential safety implications.
The skybridge location for pamphlet distribution at Sea-Tac targets captive audience of passengers walking between terminal and gates, creating opportunity for brief conversations explaining controllers’ situation to sympathetic travelers.
The “Flying is just as safe as it’s ever been” reassurance attempts to prevent panic while acknowledging that continued shutdown creates escalating risks as stressed, distracted controllers manage aircraft separation.
The “distraction to the system” and “distraction to safety” characterization frames unpaid work as cognitive burden reducing controllers’ focus on the split-second decisions that prevent mid-air collisions and runway incursions.
The “best, safest, most highly professional aviation safety system in the world” language reflects controllers’ professional pride while implicitly warning that shutdown-induced degradation threatens America’s aviation safety leadership.
The impossible choice between “gas in my car to drive to work where I’m not getting paid” or “food on the table” illustrates the absurdity requiring essential workers to subsidize government operations by working without compensation.
The “more stable funding” advocacy suggests permanent appropriations for FAA operations exempt from shutdown politics, similar to Social Security and other mandatory spending programs that continue regardless of budget impasses.
The decade-long staffing shortage reference predating the current crisis indicates chronic underfunding where controller retirements exceed new hires, creating workload stress that shutdown financial pressures compound.
Port of Seattle Commissioner Sam Cho’s sandwich delivery to pamphlet-distributing workers demonstrates local government solidarity with federal employees, though symbolic gestures cannot replace missing paychecks.
Cho’s observation that controllers “probably not 100% there because they’re concerned about their own livelihoods” articulates the safety risk where financial stress divides attention between aircraft management and personal crises.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s admission that “53% of the delays have been because of staffing shortages” validates NATCA’s warnings that shutdown impacts extend beyond individual hardship to systemic operational degradation.
The call-outs for second jobs or protest absences create cascading effects where each missing controller increases remaining staff workload, accelerating burnout and potentially triggering additional departures.
The daily fluctuation in delay percentages attributed to staffing reflects dynamic situation where controllers’ personal breaking points vary, with some maintaining attendance while others reach thresholds where working without pay becomes unsustainable.
Seattle-area travelers’ supportive responses to FAA workers suggest public sympathy, though whether this translates to constituent pressure on Washington’s congressional delegation remains uncertain.
The pamphlet campaign timing through “at least” the end of the week indicates NATCA expects continued shutdown, with open-ended duration suggesting the union will maintain visibility until Congress and the administration reach agreement.
The Sea-Tac focus reflects the airport’s status as a major West Coast hub where controller shortages and delays affect hundreds of thousands of passengers whose complaints could influence congressional representatives.
The essential worker designation forcing controllers to work without pay while other federal employees receive furlough creates perverse incentive where the most critical personnel bear the greatest burden.
The Congressional outreach strategy depends on travelers contacting representatives after brief skybridge encounters, a conversion rate challenge where busy passengers may sympathize but not follow through with calls or emails.
