Association pioneers speaking to air traffic controllers, pilots and airline stewards hold grave worries for the country’s air security as the fractional government shutdown enters Day 33.
A joint explanation discharged Wednesday by the leaders of the National Air Traffic Controller’s Association (NATCA), Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA cautioned of the boundless hazard to the wellbeing and security of carriers and explorers.
“This is as of now the longest government shutdown ever of United States and there is no imaginable closure,” the association chiefs said. “In our hazard opposed industry, we can’t figure the dimension of hazard at present at play, nor foresee the time when the whole framework will break. It is exceptional.”
On Day 33 of this senseless #shutdown @ALPAPresident Capt. Joe DePete, #NATCA Pres @PaulRinaldi & @afa_cwa’s @FlyingWithSara Nelson issued a joint statement that details growing safety concerns in the US #aviation system caused by the shutdown. Read here: https://t.co/MdD4KmYWrT
— NATCA (@NATCA) January 24, 2019
Asking “Congress and the White House to find a way to end this shutdown quickly,” the association heads said that they thought that it was “unconscionable that flight experts are being requested to work without pay and in an air wellbeing condition that is crumbling constantly.”
Addressing CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday night, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi said that he had not proposed “to place fear into anyone” when the announcement was issued yet that his worries were both profound and genuine.
He cautioned that air traffic controllers “in a significant number of our bustling offices the nation over” were as of now working six 10-hour days seven days due to a “staffing emergency” that has been exacerbated by the shutdown.
“The administration needs to open now,” he said. “Our national airspace framework is a monetary motor for this nation. $1.5 trillion in total national output yearly, 11 million well-paying occupations, and it moves bundles and individuals from everywhere throughout the world. We can’t enable this to be decreased by 50 percent. It will influence everybody from Wall Street to Main Street.”
President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association @PaulRinaldi warns of dire consequences to the nation's air safety if the shutdown continues. https://t.co/lKufcYIIgj pic.twitter.com/Y5Z47MwJP3
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) January 24, 2019
Earlier this month, air traffic controllers became the third group of federal employees to sue the Trump administration over the shutdown. The NATCA filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order against the federal government, alleging it had violated the Fifth Amendment by depriving controllers of “hard-earned compensation without the requisite due process.”
