US air safety at risk with traffic controllers as ‘pawns’ in shutdown, official says

By David Shepardson and Doyinsola Oladipo

ARLINGTON, Virginia/NEWARK (Reuters) -More than 13,000 U.S. air traffic controllers face rising stress and financial insecurity after Tuesday’s disbursement of what will be their last paycheck during the government shutdown, posing potential risks for air travel, the head of an employee union said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last week that staffing issues among air traffic controllers were to blame for 53% of flight delays since the shutdown, now in its 14th day, compared with 5% in normal times.

And as the political stalemate over government funding drags on, the potential toll on air traffic could worsen, said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

“(The shutdown) introduces a whole new risk