Media Contact
Adam Allington
Air travelers may face more flight disruptions after air traffic controllers missed their first full paycheck late last month and as the government shutdown stretches toward the longest in U.S. history.
Arthur Wheaton
Director of Labor Studies, ILR School
Art Wheaton is an expert on transportation industries and serves as director of labor studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He says air traffic controllers have one of the highest stress jobs in the country.
Wheaton says:
“Doing that job without pay is playing with fire. It is not often that airline companies and air traffic controllers agree, but in this case, it is unanimous that to provide a safe travel environment the employees need to be paid. It is a recipe for disaster to continue adding pressure to an already problematic and excruciating job.
“The consequences of short staffing were already bad before the Federal Government shutdown; they are now screaming for attention. Politicians tend to spend a lot of time in airports and airplanes. They will begin to feel the pressure to resolve this issue long before Thanksgiving, it is not sustainable for much longer.”
