Trump tells air traffic controllers to return to work as flight cancellations jump

Reuters.com ^ | November 10, 20252:11 PM CST | David Shepardson

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Summary

• Trump threatens penalties for absent air traffic controllers
• FAA reports 20-40% of controllers have been absent at major airports
• Senate advances bill to end government shutdown

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday demanded air traffic controllers return to work as travelers endured another day of flight cancellations, which the administration ordered to manage staff shortages during the government shutdown.

Threatening to curtail the pay of any controller who did not go back, Trump said he would award those who have not taken time off during the 41-day shutdown $10,000 bonuses and would welcome the resignations of the rest.

"All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially 'docked,'" Trump wrote on social media. "REPORT TO WORK IMMEDIATELY."

The shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay. Some are absent as they work second jobs or cannot afford child care.

Some 20% to 40% of controllers have been absent on any given day at the 30 biggest U.S. airports during the shutdown, the FAA said last week.

Shares of the biggest U.S. airlines, including American Airlines (AAL.O), Delta Airlines (DAL.N), and United Airlines (UAL.O), turned negative after Trump's social media post.

Officials said it was unclear how the White House could deny pay under the controllers' union contract once the government reopens, as Trump threatened, or how the president would pay for the proposed $10,000 bonuses.

Airlines canceled nearly 2,000 flights on Monday, and the number was set to rise as the FAA ordered flight cuts to step up to 10% on Friday. A winter storm in Chicago was also disrupting air travel.

FlightAware, a flight-tracking website,...

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TOPICS: Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: trump

[V_TWIN]

I guess nobody told ‘em last time President Reagan fired their asses.

[Zhang Fei]

PATCO part deux.

[Fledermaus]

I suggested this last week

[Flaming Conservative]

Apparently, some democrat regime allowed them to unionize.

[msrngtp2002]

Any that didn’t show up for work should not get back pay.

[SaxxonWoods]

I’m hearing that flying is normal. People say there are some delays, but then say, “There are always some delays, so what?”

[XRdsRev]

“I guess nobody told ‘em last time President Reagan fired their asses.”

Reagan fired Air Traffic Controllers because they went on an illegal strike (Federal employees are one of the few classifications of workers who legally are not allowed to strike).

You can’t fire someone for taking sick leave since they earned that leave and it is part of their pay. And if you did fire them, who do you propose would perform their work ??? We are already short of qualified controllers, more are retiring every week and it takes years of training and experience to work that kind of job in a high traffic region. 99% of people could not do that job.

[plain talk]

“FAA reports 20-40% of controllers have been absent at major airports”

Fire and replace every one of them.

[bigdaddy45]

Yeah well Reagan wasn’t asking them to work for free.

[kaila]

Unlike Americans who lost their jobs during covid, the ATC workers are going to get paid. All federal workers who sat on their butts at home are going to get paid. I do think the ATC who called in sick without a doctors note should be penalized. Either fired, or hold their promotions to GS whatever.Lots of Americans went into bankruptcy, lost their jobs during covid. I am sure they would have loved at the time to continue work and wait on a paycheck they were definitely going to get.

[blackdog]

Something is going nuts. I'm sitting at #1 for takeoff at SeaTac, and ATC canceled my flight plan from SeaTac to DFW, and reassigned me a route 600 nm east and then back over to DFW. It's adding 2 more hours enroute, and I had to return to the ramp to add enough fuel.

Dystopian skies.

[Revel]

This is not so simple as Trump makes it sound. You have people having to buy Gas to get to work, buy food, make car and house payments, car repairs, ect. But they don’t have any income. This is not all about the will to work. But also about being able to work. And some of those people may have found a way to actually earn some money outside of ATC in order to keep their lives from going in the toilet.

They are not all to blame for not showing up to work.

[kaila]

Salaries for ATC range from 77k for new hire to 123k for experienced. I don’t think that also includes health insurance and pension. They are most likely in the higher range scale for fed employees. If they couldn’t withstand a month without income ( even though they could get a zero interest loan from their credit union), can I trust them to navigate my flight safely? My brother, now retired, was a fed shipyard worker. He saved 6 months of pay because he was afraid of RIFs and shutdowns. I think there should be consequences for them not working.

[blackdog]

Air carrier customer beatings will continue until morale improves, and it has nothing to with any staffing shortages from shutdown. Air carrier operators are beginning to allow piloting by committee and that ain’t good. Very bad things happen in those circumstances.