WASHINGTON — President Trump threatened to dock the pay of air-traffic controllers who don’t return to work, as flight cancellations and delays spread across the country because of the government shutdown.
“All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially ‘docked,’ ” Trump wrote Monday on social media. He said he would recommend air-traffic controllers who didn’t take off time during the shutdown receive a $10,000 per person bonus.
Trump’s post comes after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered traffic to be reduced at 40 major airports to help keep skies safe as the government shutdown continued. Starting Monday, the FAA was set to also restrict private flights at 12 major airports.
By Monday afternoon, 1,620 of 25,730 scheduled flights were canceled, or about 6.3% of Monday’s flights, according to Cirium, an aviation-data provider.
More than 1,900 scheduled flights into, out of or around the U.S. had been canceled, according to FlightAware, which tracks air traffic, as bad weather compounded the FAA flight-restriction issues.
The government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has also caused airport delays: More than 5,500 flights have been delayed in the U.S. so far Monday, according to FlightAware.
Lengthy delays have added to the misery travelers have faced at some of the nation’s biggest airports in Atlanta, Dallas and Miami and at New York City’s LaGuardia.
At Chicago’s O’Hare, only 50% of flights Sunday left within 30 minutes of the scheduled departure time, according to Cirium. More than 14% of flights were delayed two hours or more.
“There will be a hangover from this as we try to put the system back together,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said Monday on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus helped advance a bill to reopen the government, but it still needs a final vote in the Senate and the House.
U.S. transportation officials have said that efforts to curb air traffic are designed to alleviate the workload on controllers who are increasingly stressed and fatigued after going weeks without pay.
“For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“If you want to leave service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, with NO payment or severance of any kind.”
Federal workers aren’t being paid during the shutdown, but they are expected to get back pay after lawmakers vote to fund the government.
Under federal law, workers who weren’t deemed essential and were sent home are set to receive back pay.
By TARINI PARTI and ALEX LEARY/Wall Street Journal