A few years back, the line at a Miami airport TSA checkpoint. Issues are more likely to arise the longer this year’s closure drags on.
During the shutdown, numerous Transportation Security Administration staff, including airport screeners, and air traffic controllers will remain on duty as essential workers. That doesn’t imply that flying will always be easy.
The vital workers will not be paid until the shutdown is finished, which is why. Many of them employees took sick days and/or other actions that impacted aviation traffic during the 34-day 2018 shutdown.
Prior shutdowns have resulted in “avoidable safety challenges – consequences we cannot afford to repeat,” according to the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, as well as staffing shortages.
Issues are more likely to arise the longer the closure lasts.
About a quarter, or about 11,000 out of the nearly 45,000 Federal Aviation Administration employees, are on furlough, according to the Transportation Department’s contingency plan.
For example, the FAA employs about 26,000 people who are “necessary to protect life and property,” while other personnel are compensated by other sources or are required by law.
A shutdown “adds unnecessary distraction” to the work of air traffic controllers, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, “putting additional strain on a workforce that is already stretched thin working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, operating the most complex airspace in the world.”
According to the union, many controllers had to take on second jobs during the previous closure, which led to stress and exhaustion.
Professionals in aviation safety, such as aerospace and aircraft certification engineers, are also among the staff members on leave.
According to the union, “Critical safety support, operational support, and modernization work will stop,” in addition to continuing improvements to air traffic control systems.
In line with efforts to increase hiring, a U.S. airline trade group echoed that sentiment, saying, “This shutdown threat is coming at a critical moment,” as record numbers of travelers pass through TSA checkpoints and Congress approved $12.5 billion to modernize the “antiquated” air traffic control system, according to Airlines for America.
Nearly 10.4 million people were screened by TSA over Labor Day weekend last month, setting a record and increasing by 3.3% year over year.
“When federal employees who manage air traffic, inspect aircraft and secure our nation’s aviation system are furloughed or working without pay, the entire industry and millions of Americans feel the strain,” the trade association stated.
Amid widespread equity-market weakness, airline stocks saw mixed results on Wednesday. While shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) increased, shares of United Airlines Holdings Inc. (UAL) and JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) fell. The U.S. Global JETS ETF saw a little increase.
