More air traffic controllers are being called in sick, often working other jobs to pay for food and medicine.
Published October 28, 2025
Air traffic controllers in the United States have not been paid as the government shutdown continues, raising concerns that the increased financial stress could take a toll on already understaffed air traffic controllers who operate thousands of flights each day.
The salary was scheduled to be paid on Tuesday.
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was already suffering from a severe shortage of air traffic controllers before the shutdown, leading to more air traffic controllers complaining of being sick and flight delays nationwide.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels continued to highlight the pressures controllers are feeling. They say the problem is likely to get worse the longer the shutdown lasts.
Daniels said controllers are not only worried about how to pay their mortgages and groceries, but some are also worried about how to pay for life-saving medicine for their children.
Duffy said she heard from one controller who had to tell her daughter she couldn’t join a traveling volleyball team that earned a spot because she couldn’t afford to pay the fees during the shutdown.
“Air traffic controllers have to be 100 percent focused at all times,” Daniels said at a news conference with Duffy at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday. “And I’m watching the air traffic controllers go to work. I’m listening. They’re worried about paying for their daughter’s medicine. I get a message from the controller: ‘We’re running out of money. And if we don’t get the medicine she needs, she’s going to die. That’s it.'”
To ensure safety, the FAA limits the number of aircraft arriving at or departing from an airport if there is a shortage of air traffic controllers. In most cases, this means delays, sometimes lasting several hours, at airports such as New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport and California’s Burbank Airport. But over the weekend, Los Angeles International Airport actually had to suspend all flights for nearly two hours.
Air traffic controllers plan to gather outside at least 17 airports across the country on Tuesday to hand out leaflets urging them to end the closures as soon as possible.
worry about money
The number of air traffic controllers reporting ill during the shutdown increased due to frustration with the situation and the need for time off for part-time work instead of continuing the six-day work week that many air traffic controllers routinely do. Duffy said air traffic controllers can be fired if they abuse their sick time, but the vast majority of air traffic controllers continue to report to work every day.
Joe Segretto, an air traffic controller who works at a regional radar facility that guides planes in and out of New York-area airports, said morale is low as controllers worry about money.
“The pressure is real,” Segretto said. “We have people who are trying to keep these planes safe. We have trainees who are trying to learn a new job that is very fast-paced, very stressful and very complex, and now they have to worry about how they’re going to pay the bills.”
Duffy said the government shutdown has also made it difficult for the government to bridge a long-standing shortage of about 3,000 controllers. He said some students have dropped out of air traffic controller school in Oklahoma City, and young air traffic controllers still training for the job may abandon their careers because they can’t afford to work without pay.
“This closure has made it difficult to achieve these goals,” Duffy said.
The longer the 27-day government shutdown drags on, the more pressure there will be on Congress to reach a deal to reopen the government. Flight disruptions across the United States during the 35-day shutdown of President Donald Trump’s first term helped end the chaos. But so far, Democrats and Republicans have shown little sign of reaching an agreement on funding the government.
