FAA workers grapple with possible shutdown deal as officials try to navigate upcoming holiday travel rush

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

Washington (CNN) — Atlanta mom Amanda James’ heart shattered when her soon-to-be 11-year-old uttered the words: “Mom, I don’t have to have a birthday party this year.”

Her son knew both James, a Federal Aviation Administration airway transportation systems specialist and mother of four, and her husband, an air traffic controller, weren’t receiving paychecks during the government shutdown.

“That absolutely broke my heart,” James explained to CNN. “(I told him), ‘That is not for you to worry about.’ I was like, ‘No, whatever you want to do that day, that’s what we’re going to do.’ It hurt my feelings so bad that a coming 11-year-old was concerned about something he shouldn’t have to be concerned with.”

It’s one of the agonizing conversations playing out in the homes of many federal employees across the country as they wait for the government to finally reopen.

James is one of 5,000 workers maintaining FAA equipment, along with 14,000 air traffic controllers, who are all working without a paycheck. This week, a small group of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to approve a funding measure that could end the longest shutdown in US history. The measure now advances to the House of Representatives.

In recent days, a record number of air traffic controllers took unscheduled time off causing a cascading effect of hourslong delays for travelers. At the same time, the FAA slashed flights at 40 US airports, so controllers who do show up could safely handle the traffic.

For James, who’s been at the FAA for over three years, when she saw news of a deal this week, she said, “I’ll believe it whenever I see it done.” James and her husband, a controller with the FAA for over 11 years, have been through shutdowns before, and have been saving in case another one should happen.

Navigating a crisis within aviation

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the loss of pay for essential FAA employees a “crisis within aviation” as he spoke to reporters at Central Wisconsin Airport in Wausau, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.

Across the country from the James family, another married set of FAA employees, both controllers, share the hope that the shutdown ends this week. All of the family’s extra income has been “dumped” into a new home they are building for retirement. The couple, who wished to remain anonymous when discussing their jobs, are close to retirement age but not quite there yet.

They have saved some money, but at one point it seemed like the shutdown was going to go on forever.

“The worries of when it was going to end, because it didn’t look like there was any end in sight: we weren’t sure how that was going to pan out, but I don’t know,” the controller told CNN. “It’s not comforting.”

They worked every day of the shutdown they could, but did take some time off when they were simply too exhausted to work.

“The problem is with air traffic controllers, the American people feel that probably most acutely when they’re not paid,” Duffy said. “A lot of them have taken leave. They’re not coming into towers. That has created significant disruption throughout aviation.”

Duffy has said some controllers may be calling out in protest, while others could be working other jobs to support their family. Some simply get sick or become exhausted from the stress of not knowing when they will get paid.

“We are here to ensure that the flying public is safe and to continue maintaining those standards of safety,” James said. “The added stress of everything going on, you don’t want (that), and somebody who’s distracted mentally or emotionally or financially having to come to work.”

Compounding the unscheduled time off due to the shutdown, it’s also cold and flu season, James said, and many people in her Atlanta facility cannot work right now due to illness.

President Donald Trump demanded Monday all controllers “get back to work, NOW” on Truth Social, recommending a bonus of $10,000 per controller who didn’t take time off during the shutdown.

But for the James family, they presumably won’t get bonuses since they did take time off when the family got sick.

“I’d like to say we didn’t have to, but unfortunately, we both were sick and our kids got sick… If we hadn’t actually been sick, we would have been at work,” James said. “We don’t like calling out because that can increase the workload for others.”

Making tough decisions for family

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Duffy said air traffic controllers will get most of their back pay shortly after funding resumes.

“I mentioned I wanted air traffic controllers to come back to work,” Duffy said. “So to be clear, anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after the government opens, they are going to get … 70% of their pay.”

The remaining 30% will come about a week later, he added.

“I’m kind of banking (on the shutdown to end this week),” the controller who wishes to remain anonymous said. “I would have never thought in a million years – 40 something days – that we would have gone like that. It’s not something that’s not in the back of my mind.”

The end to the shutdown can’t come soon enough for the James family either.

It has caused her to put off a medical procedure she needed. Her insurance only partially covers it, she said, and it would take away thousands of dollars they need to survive should the shutdown continue.

James and her husband, who met in the Army, are looking to foster a high school-aged girl, in addition to raising their four boys, and they won’t let the shutdown stop them from pursuing that. James is a licensed cosmetologist and said if the shutdown doesn’t wrap up this week, she’s going to talk to some salons to see what side work she can do on her days off.

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