The nation’s top airlines are calling on Congress to fund the government and end the ongoing shutdown, warning that the continued lapse in funds will cause further chaos at U.S. airports.
“It is time to pass a clean CR,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told reporters on Thursday, referring to a continuing resolution that would allow the government to remain funded in the short-term as legislators work on a longer-term budget package.
Kirby was among a group of executives who met with Vice President JD Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at the White House on Thursday, alongside the airline lobby group Airlines for America.
“Missed paychecks only increases the stress on these essential workers, many of whom are already working mandatory overtime to keep our skies safe and secure,” Delta, a member in the coalition, said in a statement Thursday.
Southwest, another member, has sounded a similar note, calling on Congress to “immediately resolve its impasse and resume normal government operations.”
“The public expects and deserves to travel in a system in which air traffic controllers and federal safety and security employees are paid in a timely fashion,” the company told USA Today. “We ask Congress to adopt a clean continuing resolution.”
American Airlines also wants legislators to back a continuing resolution, which Democrats have thus far rejected multiple times in protest at the GOP letting healthcare subsidies expire.
Democrats argue that the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies will cause an increase in health costs for the roughly 22 million Americans who buy their healthcare via Obamacare exchanges.
“The quickest way to end this shutdown and get these workers paid is by passing a clean continuing resolution,” the airline told The Hill. “A prolonged shutdown will lead to more delays and cancellations — and the American people, especially during the busy holiday season, deserve better.”
The ongoing shutdown continues to hamstring U.S. air travel.
On Thursday, delays and cancellations were felt from Washington to Florida, where travelers at the popular theme park tourist hub of Orlando International Airport saw delays lasting up to 12 hours due to a lack of certified air traffic controllers being available.
There was already a shortage of controllers before the shutdown, and the lapse has put further pressure on these essential workers, who are required to continue doing their jobs without pay until the government is funded.
They missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday, and advocates say air traffic controllers have had to work second jobs or rely on food banks to make ends meet during the shutdown.
“These additional distractions will compound the existing risks in an already strained system,” the head of the air traffic controllers union wrote in an op-ed this week. “Every day the shutdown continues, the National Airspace System becomes less safe than it was the day before, as the controllers’ focus shifts from their critical safety tasks to their financial uncertainty.”
President Trump has called on Republicans to invoke the “nuclear option” and break the shutdown by eliminating the filibuster in the Senate, the procedural rule that requires 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to pass most legislation.
Such a change would speed along negotiations in the upper house, where Republicans hold 53 seats, while dramatically altering the dynamics in Congress going forward.
Legislators are reportedly conducting low-level bipartisan talks and feel the month-long shutdown could be over as soon as next week.
