Air Traffic Controllers Start Resigning as Shutdown Bites. | Unpaid air traffic controllers are quitting their jobs altogether as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history continues.

Imagine missing two paychecks while having to work long stressful hours. Not like they can find a temp job to cover their bills.

I was hoping the people would be the ones to shut down the economy via protest, but republicans might accomplish it all on their own. 

Article Text:

> Overtaxed and unpaid air traffic controllers are resigning “every day” due to stress from the government shutdown.
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> “Controllers are resigning every day now because of the prolonged nature of the shutdown,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told CNN.
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> “We hadn’t seen that before. And we’re also 400 controllers short—shorter than we were in the 2019 shutdown.”
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> Air traffic controllers are federal workers, which means they are part of the approximately 730,000 federal employees working without pay since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.
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> Daniels warned that the controllers who remain are stretched dangerously thin. Many are calling in sick due to burnout as they struggle to pay bills.
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> “They’re calling their employer and saying, ‘I have no gas today. I cannot pay for my child care. Can I bring my children to work?’” he said.
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> On Oct. 7, less than a week after the shutdown began, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that some air traffic controllers were already taking second jobs—a practice he discouraged. “I don’t want them delivering for DoorDash; I don’t want them driving Uber,” he said. “I want them coming to their facilities and controlling the airspace.”
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> The resignations are adding to the tremendous stress being placed on airports due to the government shutdown. Just this week, staffing shortages reached their highest levels since the shutdown began.
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> The Trump administration has responded to the crisis by curbing air traffic by 10 percent in 40 “high-traffic” markets, including New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, and other major American cities.
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> The resignations also mean Americans can’t expect things to instantly return to normal once the shutdown ends, which is bad news for the upcoming holiday season.
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> “It will take us months to come out of all the impacts that it’s causing,” said Daniels.
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> “Let’s not lie about the pressure,” he said. “The ones who do come to work, they’re the ones that are working six days a week, 10 hours a day. You can do that for a couple weeks, but at one point, you’re going to get burned out, and that’s what we’re seeing. Now, there’s a higher level of fatigue with the controllers.”
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> The government shutdown, the longest in history, has stretched into its second month as senators refuse to negotiate on a government spending bill. Democrats have requested that Republicans include an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies in the budget, and Republicans have refused to budge.
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You can read an archived copy of the article here:

[https://archive.ph/uNIK0](https://archive.ph/uNIK0)

Maybe these fucks should have kept tabs on the REAL economy. It’s only been a month. How many damned economists have been telling them that most people are just a couple of checks away from poverty?

Add that up. These guys (air traffic controllers) couldn’t last a month without pay. Which is to say, most of them aren’t living large. Most don’t have much in savings. Most are just like us.

And why is that? Just look at a wealth inequality chart. Look how the basics in life (education, health care, housing) have gone through the roof in the last 40 years and where that money’s going. Look at how wages have not kept up with the price increases.

The wealthy have been sucking all the middle class money up top all this time and think they’re more to suck up. That’s why social safety nets look like excess. They can’t imagine how financially fucked citizens of this country have been. Hell, Trump literally believes cereal comes in 50 pound bags and “was $100 but now it’s $200”. These people have no concept of America’s financial reality.

It will get worse and they have absolutely no one to blame but themselves, though I’m sure they’ll find someone (Mamdami! It was all his fault! This whole time. Him and Obama’s tan suit!!!).

>On Oct. 7, less than a week after the shutdown began, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that some air traffic controllers were already taking second jobs—a practice he discouraged. “I don’t want them delivering for DoorDash; I don’t want them driving Uber,” he said. “I want them coming to their facilities and controlling the airspace.”

narrator: Sean Duffy (net worth $4 million) is getting his full $221,400 salary (*plus* benefits) during the shutdown to complain about air traffic controllers taking second jobs because they are unpaid.

Makes sense, all stress zero reward. The system was already at its breaking point this is the straw that broke the camels back.

Shall we recap?

First Thanksgiving of Trump Nightmare 2.0 –

1) No Food

2) No air travel

This mother fucker really did want to take us back to the Great Depression. And here we are…

My husband missed 2 paychecks already. I am clipping coupons, making bread from scratch and canceling every single purchase that is not food or gas.

Fuck the GOP and trump.

I can’t blame them. Being air traffic controller is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. Doing that without a paycheck is almost impossible.

There were some ground stops due to staffing at at least one airport this morning.

My daughter left early from east coast and her flight is on time to west coast.

You can track delays and cancellations here:

[https://www.flightaware.com/miserymap/](https://www.flightaware.com/miserymap/)

The Trump and Republican Shutdown, you mean.